2020 Checklist of the Spiders (Araneae) of British Columbia now available

Male Rhomphaea fictilium (Hentz), a species of cobweb spider.
Photo by Sean McCann

The 2020 Checklist of the Spiders of British Columbia is now available on the E-Fauna BC checklists page thanks to the efforts of BC spider specialist Robb Bennett and co- authors David Blades, Gergin Blagoev, Don Buckle, Claudia Copley, Darren Copley, Charles Dondale and Rick C. West. This updated checklist features an annotated list of the 893 spider species of BC, a detailed summary of the work involved so far in documenting the spider fauna, and a detailed reference list.  Based on this work, the number of documented spider species have increased:   "The number of species recorded in BC has climbed from 212 in 1967 through 653 in 2006 to 893 in 2020."  More species are expected to be found.

View the checklist here.

Species accounts provided in the checklist provide global distribution information and listings of collection locations/locales in BC for each species.  An example species account for the Western Black Widow (Latrodectus hesperus) is provided below.

Latrodectus hesperus Chamberlin & Ivie, 1935 

Global Distribution: Southern BC to SK south to northern Mexico.

BC Records: Powell R, Savary Is, Nanaimo, Crofton, Duncan, Cobble Hill, Malahat, Sooke area (Monument Ridge, Mt Manuel Quimper), Victoria area (Mary Hill, Mt Braden, Metchosin, Mt MacDonald, Langford, Goldstream Prov Pk, View Royal, James Bay, Uplands Regional Pk, Mt Tolmie, Royal Oak, Sparton Rd, Mt Newton, Island View Beach, Swartz Bay), Saltspring Is (Mt Maxwell), North Pender Is, Galiano Is, Mayne Is, Saturna Is (Warburton Pike), Vancouver area (Centennial Beach), Chilliwack, Lillooet, Nicola Lk, Douglas Lk, Williams Lk, Kamloops, Salmon Arm, Oliver, Vernon, Kelowna, Summerland, Penticton, Vaseux Lk, Oliver, Osoyoos, Haynes Lease Eco Res, Mt Kobau, Nighthawk, Christina Lk, Granite Mtn, Trail, Cranbrook