Turkish student discovers rare spider in Anatolia

Fikret Arda Duzgunses, a ninth grade student at Istanbul Saint-Joseph French High School, discovered an unrecorded spider species in the garden of his school

Ninth-grade student Fikret Arda Duzgunses from Istanbul Saint-Joseph French High School discovered an undocumented spider species, heliophanus apiatus, in the school’s garden. Teaming up with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ilhan Cosar and Prof. Dr. Tarik Danisman from Kırıkkale University, he co-authored a scientific paper detailing the discovery.

The article was published in the 19th issue of Munis Entomology & Zoology under the title “Occurence of an Introduced Synanthropic Sun Jumping Spider (Araneae: Salticidae) in Turkiye.”

Duzgunses, 15, told the magazine Magma that he has been interested in arthropods since he was 8 years old and ants are by far his favorite group.

Intrigued by the interesting patterns of a jumping spider he photographed, Duzgunses delved into research, suspecting it to be a heliophanus apiatus species. To validate their hypothesis, Duzgunses said he initiated scientific research studies by sending the collected samples to Cosar and Danisman.

Source: Newsroom