A scientist from Altai State University described a new species of “Scary-eyed spider” from the island of Sumatra
In 2023, Alexander Fomichev published 12 articles in journals included in the Scopus/Web of Science lists. Five of them are dedicated to spiders of Sumatra. Thus, a new species of “Scary-eyed spider” (family Deinopidae) was described. This family had not been found on the island before. Spiders of the family Deinopidae have the largest simple (non-compound) eyes of all arthropods. With the help of these huge, extremely sensitive eyes, these spiders are able to see their victims in complete darkness of the night jungle.
In addition, Alexander, in collaboration with his colleague from the Far Eastern Federal University (Vladivostok) Mikhail Omelko, described five new species of spiders from the family Ctenidae (“Tropical wolf spiders”). The most dangerous spider in the world for humans, the Brazilian wandering spider, also belongs to this family. A description of a new species of large, about 10 cm in paw span, cave spiders from the family Psechridae has been published. Finally, a new species of spitting spider (family Scytodidae) has been described from Sumatran materials. Spitting spiders are known for their ability to immobilize prey from great distances with their sticky spittle.
In 2023, Fomichev, in collaboration with Yuri Marusik (Institute of Biological Problems of the North, Magadan) and Sergei Zonshtein (Tel Aviv, Israel), published a revision of the “arachnivorous” spiders of the family Palpimanidae of Central Asia, with a description of two new species. Spiders of the family Palpimanidae feed exclusively on other spiders. A new species of tarantula was described from Uzbekistan, which Alexander named after his brother, Andrei Fomichev. The other articles are devoted to spiders of South Ossetia, Iraq and Mongolia.
“The expedition to Sumatra took place from late January to early March. The spider fauna was studied in the mountain jungle in the north of this island, which lies directly on the equator. During a month, four different locations were explored, including the crater of an active volcano. The conditions in which the expedition took place were were really challenging. With 100% humidity, the heat reached +40 degrees Celsius. The equatorial forests of Sumatra are difficult to navigate; in many places the road through the jungle had to be cut with knives. Various infections, as well as bloodsuckers, such as land leeches, also plagued us. But the results of the expedition exceeded all expectations. A wealth of materials on spiders were collected, including many species and genera unknown to science,” the scientist notes.
In addition to spiders, Alexander encountered a huge variety of other animals. The fauna of reptiles turned out to be especially rich, including huge water monitors (the second largest species of monitor lizard, after the Komodo monitor), poisonous snakes, such as keffiyehs and boigas, and many others. The researchers did not avoid being bitten. Of the large animals, they repeatedly encountered orangutans and macaques, and once they saw a pangolin.
The second expedition in 2023 took place in a completely different environment – in the dry and cold highlands of the Pamirs, in Tajikistan. There Fomichev had to deal with completely different natural and climatic conditions. The average altitude at which he worked was 4000 meters above sea level. However, a rich population of spiders has also been discovered at altitudes of 5000 meters (for comparison, the peak of the highest mountain in Altai, Belukha Mountain, is at an altitude of 4506 meters). Due to the high altitudes, extreme situations also arose. On the Muzkol ridge at an altitude of 5000 meters, Alexander Fomichev and a researcher from Altai State University Yuri Dyachkov almost fell into caves buried deep in the glacier and provoked a powerful mudflow.
Fauna research was complicated not only by natural factors. For example, on the Khazratishoh ridge it was necessary to conduct research in an old minefield left over from the Civil War in Tajikistan (1992–1997). The results of the Pamir expedition are not inferior to those of the expedition to Sumatra. Which, given the harsh climate of the Pamirs, is an amazing fact. Many unknown species of spiders, as well as genera and even one new subfamily, were also discovered here. It is interesting to note that one of the discovered species of spiders cannot yet be attributed to any known family. But the vertebrate fauna of the Pamirs turned out to be extremely scarce.
By the end of 2023, the number of new taxa discovered by Alexander Fomichev since 2007 (from 7th grade) reached 88 (85 new species and three new genera).
Alexander notes that no more than 5% of the materials collected in Sumatra have been processed and published. The processing of Pamir materials is at an early stage. So, there are still many discoveries ahead.