It was an absolute joy sharing this amazing web of brilliant people here in Zadar. Thank you all for coming and making it so special! 🕷️❤️

Today we’re going in deep 🕸️ Symposium on the science beneath the surface: cave arachnid ecology, diversity and evolution.

Spiky or smooth: How should widow spiders construct their egg sacs? By Valeria Arabesky

Symposium on “How arachnids experience their world: senses, Brain, development and behaviour” started with the lecture “Biological point - light displays scanning by the principal eyes of a jumping spider” by Massimo De Agro.

Our plenary talk today: Unraveling Sexual Size Dimorphism in Spiders: Current Insights and Emerging Frontiers by Simona Kralj - Fišer

Today we covered themes related to systematics & phylogenetics, evolutinary biology & genomics, and faunistics & distribution. From Nemesiidae, Salticidae and Theridiidae to scorpions and pseudoscorpions: our lecturers gave their best and gave us insight into their research.

Are Nemesiidae your thing? A lecture by Vera Opatova: Phylogenetic relationships and biogeographic origins of the spider family Nemesiidae (Araneae, Mygalomorphae)

Starting strong with our first plenary speaker: Miquel A. Arnedo 🕸️

Happy to say the 35th ECA in Zadar has officially started!

Coming to the 35th European Congress of Arachnology? You can win a free publication in a journal of your choice thanks to our publisher @pensoft.net ! subtbiol.pensoft.net/news/835

Only five days left until the start of the 35th European Congress of Arachnology. We are very excited to host 175 participants from 41 countries across 5 continents among which 62 are students! 🕷️🕸️🦂@institutrb.bsky.social

Arachnid of the week is Troglochthonius doratodactylus Helversen, 1968

Want to see how our logo was drawn? Check out this (very) sped-up video showing part of the illustration process! Have you already guessed the spider genus depicted? 😄

Dear all, the registration and abstract submission deadline is approaching in a few days! Friday June 20th at midnight!!! 🚨 Don't miss the chance to join us in a beautiful Zadar! 🌞https://event.fourwaves.com/eca2025/pages

Arachnid of the week is Euscorpius biokovensis, 2020

Spider of the week is Philaeus chrysops Thorell, 1869

Arachnid of the week: Lola insularis Kratochvíl, 1937

For all the students, check out the grants we offer at our website - event.fourwaves.com/eca2025/pages. We offer at least 4 grants covering the congress registration fee and several travel grants. Also, Arachnologische Gesellschaft - arages.de - added a student award opportunity for their members.

⚠️Alert! Registrations for ECA2025 are officially open from today! Early bird registration is until May 25th, while registration closes on June 20th. Hurry up to book your place! 🕷️All the details are on our webpage: event.fourwaves.com/eca2025/pages

Did you know that Croatian scientist Zvonimir Maretić was first to develop the serum for European black widow (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus) poison in 1951? This species is quite abundant in some part of Croatia so he had a lot to practice with! 😊

So far, in Croatia 771 spider species have been recorded. According to our still unpublished revised check list, the true number is at least 50 species larger. Some of the more eye catching species are: 1. Micrommata virescens 2. Cheiracanthium punctorium 3. Lycosa tarantula

Please check out our website at event.fourwaves.com/eca2025/pages, and fill in the pre-registration form linked there to help us have a clearer estimate of expected attendance. And don’t ignore the bonus question, give it a try! 🧐

We are excited to announce that 35th European Congress of Arachnology will be held in Zadar, Croatia, from 31 August to 5 September 2025. More information soon, stay tuned for upcoming posts!