A study of global arachnid trade patterns shows 1,264 species from 66 families

A small group of researchers from Thailand, Finland and China found that there is a very large and active trade in arachnids on the Internet. In their article published in the journal Biology of communicationThe group describes its study of the arachnid trade via the Internet and the possible consequences of the large number of creatures traded around the world.

According to researchers, wildlife trade has been shown to be a major factor in biodiversity loss as well creatures are mined and traded, their numbers in the wild are declining. They also note that some of the creatures they trade attract a lot of attention, while others, such as invertebrates, are often ignored by both the press and social media. In this new effort, researchers sought to gain a better understanding of world trade in one specific type of invertebrate: arachnids.

To learn more about world trade arachnids, the researchers went straight to the source: online lists. In doing so, they found about 1,264 species for sale or trade. They assume they sell much more than they found because they also didn’t track sales social networks sites. The researchers noted that most of the species they found for sale were not recognized by any governing or regulatory body – so all such sales were perfectly legal. They also found what seemed to be a greater reward for vendors who have spiders with more colorful attributes – features that usually show they are rare. They also note that most of them samples they have seen that they belong to species that are known to have a long lifespan, and this is another factor that can endanger a species.

Researchers believe that the huge number of sales is very likely to threaten the survival of many species, especially those that are threatened by other reasons, such as habitat loss. Note also that most of the specimens they found online come from the wild, so they are not bred for sale, which further indicates the pressure on those who remained. The team also found that much of the information used to describe the samples for sale was inaccurate. They believe that more work is needed to more accurately assess the impact that such a huge trade market has on arachnids.

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