'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
A new and large species of spider has been found living in Queensland, Australia, and researchers say it's in need of protection.
Rare and colourful, the tarantula-like creature is a type of golden trapdoor spider belonging to the genus Euoplos, which since 2017 has been the subject of an extensive research program, according to a study published March 15 in the Journal of Arachnology.
Now called Euoplos dignita, the species was first discovered in the early 20th century, near the towns of Monto and Eidsvold, but it remained undescribed and unnamed due to a lack of research, said study author Michael Rix, principal curator of arachnology at the Queensland Museum Network, via email.
For years, there have been only a handful of Euoplos dignita specimens in the Queensland Museum's collection, all but one of which were collected before the 1970s. There were no known males among them — which posed a significant obstacle for Rix and his research team.
Having a male specimen is important for being able to identify and name a species within the Mygalomorphae order, which Euoplos spiders are part of, said Paula Cushing, senior curator in vertebrate zoology at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Cushing, who is also secretary of the American Arachnological Society, wasn't involved in the study.
"Oftentimes, in order to figure out if what you're looking at is new to science, you almost always, with spiders, have to examine the genitalia," she added.
So the researchers needed new genetic material they could test from a living male specimen — which meant they had to find one.
They finally spotted what they were looking for on a roadside in the Eidsvold-Monto region after a three-day search in May 2021. It was the first collection of the species since the 1990s.
After comparing their find to other specimens in the museum's collection, the research team officially described Euoplos dignitas. Dignitas is "Latin for dignity or greatness, in reference to the really spectacular nature of this spider," Rix said in a YouTube video published by the Queensland Museum Network. "It's a big, beautiful species."
Females of the species have a red-brown carapace, burrow-building behaviour and can grow to 2 inches long, which is "very large" for this type of spider, according to the study. The males have a "striking 'honey-red' carapace and legs," and their abdomens are grayish brown.
"These spiders are pretty cool because they are so long lived. Some trapdoor mygalomorphs can live for literally decades," Cushing said. "The longest-lived trapdoor tarantula was 43 years old."
Protection is needed for this rare species, the researchers also found. When the researchers located the male Euoplos dignitas specimen, they observed that most of the roadside habitats that would typically be available for this species had been cleared for agriculture or highly disturbed, which is "extremely destructive for trapdoor spiders, their burrows and the integrity of their habitat," according to the researchers.
"Until detailed survey work is completed, we won't know how many remaining populations exist," Rix said. "But the natural range of the species is small (and) highly fragmented, and we were only able to discover one living (specimen) at the time."
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.