Spiders are not everyone’s cup-of-tea, but this National Science Week the Western Australian Museum is celebrating the identification of 24 new species of hooded wishbone spiders from WA.

What makes these identifications even more exciting is they are from our existing Museum collection and form part of a national research project that aims to discover 100 new species of Australian wishbone spiders.

Wishbone spiders (genus Aname) are Australia’s most diverse genus of burrowing spiders. Their common name refers to the ‘Y’ or wishbone appearance of their deep silk-lined burrows. The burrows have a secondary escape chute branching off the main burrow!

WA’s ancient landscapes of the Pilbara, Goldfields, and Mid-West appear to be a hotspot for certain types of burrowing spiders. One such group is the ‘hooded wishbone spider’: a particular group of wishbone spiders that make a little raised ‘hood’ over the entrances to their burrows.

Hooded wishbone spider burrow. Image J Wilson. Courtesy WA Museum 

Of this group, just one species, from the Pilbara, with the scientific name Aname mellosa, had been identified until now!

Over many decades the Museum has amassed hundreds of specimens through research, Environmental Impact Assessments, faunal surveys and fieldwork in the Pilbara, Goldfields, and Mid-West regions. With the advancement of science, the DNA sequences from these specimens, has revealed many other new species within the ‘hooded wishbone spider’ family.  

WA Museum Research Associate, Dr Jeremy Wilson, is the lead researcher on the national project, and working in collaboration with WA Museum Terrestrial Zoology Curator Dr Mark Harvey, among others.

“My colleagues and I used DNA sequences, morphological microscopy, the Museum’s specimens, and knowledge of the landscape to accurately identify and describe the 24 species.

“We are excited to say that the use of the Museum’s collection has enabled us to identify these new species, which we will soon document in a scientific publication,” Jeremy said.

It is hoped the research and identification work will help ensure conservation in these regions is done in a way that minimises the impact on biodiversity.