A Colombian spider named after an Indian arachnologist

Tenedos calebi, an ant-eating Colombian spider is named after an Indian arachnologist T.D. John Caleb

There are several organisms that share our planet. Each one needs to be recognised by a specific name. The same animal is often called by different common or local names across different regions in different languages which causes confusion. That is where taxonomy comes in. Taxonomy is a scientific discipline of naming, defining and classifying groups of biological organisms based on shared characteristics. Organisms are grouped into taxa and these groups are given a taxonomic rank like kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.

The Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus is regarded as the father of modern taxonomy. He developed a ranked system known as Linnaean taxonomy for categorising organisms and binomial nomenclature for naming organisms. Binomial nomenclature is significant because it enables people from all over the world to communicate clearly about different plant and animal species. It also ensures that each scientific name is distinct.

According to the World Spider Catalog (2023) there are over 51,000 species known that are grouped under 4,300 genera and 136 families.

In 2022, a collaborative effort by arachnologists from Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico, led by Leonel Martinez, Antonio Brescovit, and Luis Quijano Cuervo, resulted in the official classification of a spider,Tenedos calebi. Their findings were published in an international peer-reviewed journal, Zootaxa based in New Zealand. Yet, it is not just the spider’s biology that piques interest, but the fascinating story behind its name.

Tenedos calebi was named after T.D. John Caleb, an Indian arachnologist. Dr. Caleb’s contributions to the field, with a specific focus on the taxonomy of Indian Salticidae (jumping spiders), have been substantial. The researchers recognised his dedication and expertise. Caleb’s work in unraveling the diversity of spiders in the relatively uncharted regions of tropical India is considerable. The holotype (the specimen based on which the species is described) of spider Tenedos calebi is currently preserved at the Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Invertebrate Collection, Universidad Nacional de Colombia and Natural History Museum Andes, Bogotá, Colombia.

In all, the researchers describe 28 new species in their work.

The remarkable ant-eating spider hails from Colombia and belongs to the family Zodariidae (Ant spiders).