Spiders of Hong Kong: A Talk by Ecologist Marco Chan

Description

Despite being researched for the last 50 years, spiders in Hong Kong are one of the most overlooked and understudied species groups in the city.

That might strike some as surprising, given that Hong Kong is home to over 200 spider species — from the less harmless giant crab spiders to the more destructive brown widow. It’s no surprise there are so many, as the city sits in a tropical regional hotspot.

In the last 10 years, luckily, there has been a raise in awareness and interest about the arachnids. Marco Chan, an ecologist currently studying for a masters of philosophy at the Insect Biodiversity and Biogeography Laboratory of the University of Hong Kong, wants to build on that momentum with his upcoming talk, Spiders of Hong Kong.

In 2024, Marco won the Hong Kong Youth Geographer of the Year. An expert on the taxonomy of spiders (the science of naming, defining and classifying them) in Hong Kong, Chan runs a research group called Islands with the goal to identify all spiders in Hong Kong including species new to science. Islands also provides educational programmes for the general public, co-organised with Outdoor Wildlife Learning Hong Kong.

Alongside the eight-legged creatures, he also focuses on the taxonomy of the ant genus Strumigenys in Southeast Asia, and mapping the global distribution of the tramp species within the genus. This is part of a larger project to sample 1,000 plots across Asia to build a comprehensive ant database for the continent.

On 24 September, complimentary drinks will be served at 18:45. Then, the talk will last from 19:30 to 20:30.