*Please note. Proof of COVID vaccination will be required of everyone attending events who is over 12 years old.

We’re excited to welcome three spider experts from the Royal BC Museum on Sunday October 3rd. There will be two opportunities to learn from and engage with these scientists. First, a guided walk at Henderson Community Park at 1pm. Second, a presentation at Dinner Bay Park at 7pm. Preregistration is required for both these events.

Our spider walk and presentation will introduce you to the Royal BC Museum’s spider research and some of our eight-legged neighbours. Participants are encouraged to bring spiders for identification and, if you are interested in learning about digital identification tools such as iNaturalist, bring your smart phones.

Meet the Experts

Robb Bennett (bottom left), Royal BC Museum Research Associate: Robb Bennett did his doctoral degree in spider systematics and is interested in spider taxonomy and faunistics. He has described many new species and is considered a leading expert in the family Cybaeidae in North America and Canadian spider fauna in general.

Darren Copley (top left), Royal BC Museum Vertebrate Collections Manager and Mammal and Bird Preparator: Darren Copley’s research interests span many taxa, from invertebrates to vertebrates, and he has particular expertise in spider taxonomy and identifications. His skill in the field at collecting invertebrates is matched by his ability to document, by song or call, the various bird species encountered during fieldwork, which dovetails naturally with his career as a vertebrate collections manager at the Royal BC Museum.

Claudia Copley (right), Royal BC Museum Entomology Collections Manager and Researcher: Claudia Copley has been interested in “the little things that run the world” since childhood and is interested in furthering this knowledge, whether it is through her own work or facilitating the research of others.

In 2006 the Royal British Columbia Museum began systematically documenting the diversity of BC’s spiders. Museum specimens and literature records were used to update an existing checklist and identify poorly sampled habitats in BC. Annual field surveys of spiders, primarily targeting alpine and subalpine habitats, began in 2008 and have resulted in major growth of the collection including undescribed species and many new provincial, national, and continental records. Over 900 spider species have now been recorded in BC (over half of Canada’s total of 1500 species); close to half of those species occur in our local area. We live in a spider diverse region of a spider diverse province!