This website is intended for everyone interested in spider, scorpions and other arachnids. It is the website of the South African National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA) a project coordinated by the ARC.

Spiders

The Palpigradi or micro whip-scorpions are very rare, minutely small soil living arachnids and are very seldom seen. There are about 55 species known in the world. The first specimen from South Africa was collected by Lawrence in 1959 from Champagne Castle, in the Drakensberg Mountains and described as

A second species was recently collected from soil in the Botanical Garden at the University of Potchefstroom. It is congeneric with E. lawrencei but a new species (Van der Schyff, 1999).

 

FURTHER READING: Van der Schyff, J. 1999. Second report from Southern Africa on Palpigradida, the rarest of all arachnid orders. African Arachnological Society (AFRAS) Newsletter 12: 35 (Abstract of paper presented at the 6th African Arachnological Colloquium, 19-23 April 1999, Swakopmund).

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Scorpions

Pseudoscorpions

Solifugae

Harvestmen

Mites and Ticks

Whipspiders

PALPIGRADI

Schizomids


Co-ordinators :
A.S. Dippenaar-Schoeman, e-mail: dippenaara
@arc.agric.za