"We are excited about hosting the meeting," said Vetter. "The arachnology meetings, held annually, are always fun and supportive. Because most arachnologists work alone most of the year, this is an occasion for them to get together, speak the same language, and present their research to their peers."
Papers will be presented at the meeting from June 26th through June 28th. Abstracts of the papers can be found at: http://www.americanarachnology.org/AAS_2002/AAS_02_abstract_list.html
The talks will address the medical aspects of spiders and spider bites. Talks have also been lined up that will be of scientific interest in ecology, evolution and taxonomy. In taxonomy, there will be at least one talk on a new genus or two of California spiders; Vetter has collected a spider of a new genus. "It is not uncommon to find a new species, but to find a new genus is much more exciting," he said.
A symposium on "Arachnids of Medical Importance" has also been planned for the 26th of June. The speakers include two medical university physicians, a dermatologist and several arachnologists who specialize on medically important spiders. "The speakers will address envenomation symptoms and treatment, misdiagnoses, overdiagnoses, misidentification of specimens, evolution of venoms, geographical distribution and a community project which involves public
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Contact: Rick Vetter
vetter@mail.ucr.edu
University of California - Riverside
14-Jun-2002