The paper is the first attempt to summarize and analyse the scientific legacy of the notable British arachnologist John Alan Murphy (1922–2021) based on his publications and archival materials available at the Manchester Museum, UK. It presents a brief biography of J. Murphy, a critical analysis of his publications, particularly of his three substantial books, details of field trips undertaken with his wife Frances Murphy (1926–1995) in over 45 years and a short description of the rich, worldwide spider collection assembled by John and Frances. The paper is richly illustrated by photos obtained from colleagues who personally knew John Murphy and copies of archival items from the Manchester Museum.

The Octavius Pickard-Cambridge collection of exotic Araneae is a large and significant historic collection of world spiders. Held at Oxford University Museum of Natural History, it encompasses most spider families, with material collected and studied by many prominent researchers between 1860–1917. A synopsis of the collection, its history and the main correspondents and colleagues of Pickard-Cambridge is presented, along with biographical notes on many of the people who were influential in the construction and preservation of this unique collection.

The purpose of this paper is a celebration of Michael J. Roberts's illustrative genius. It provides details about the illustrations comprising the Michael J. Roberts archive at the NHM, explains how they can be accessed by scholars, discusses how they are housed and their conservation issues, and touches upon Roberts's illustrative techniques with examples from the archive. It also showcases several plates from each of his major publications to further exemplify Roberts's considerable talents. For the future, a potential collaborative project between the NHM and the British Arachnological Society is considered, to enable scholars to view more easily the illustrations online via a portal. This paper is of interest to anyone who is interested in spiders, who uses Roberts's illustrations for identification purposes and for scientific illustrators and artists.

As with many scientific disciplines, arachnology has long been male dominated. This gender bias has been changing gradually over the years, with some prominent early pioneers playing influential roles. Starting with Eliza Staveley in the mid-1800s, women pursued arachnology in a somewhat clandestine manner. The frequency with which women became involved in the study of arachnology increased considerably in the early and mid-1900s, although women were still expected to focus their responsibilities on family before any scientific pursuit, and only very rarely held any kind of academic position. Towards the latter part of the 1900s, there was a tremendous growth in certain areas of biology—notably behavioural ecology and biological control, both fields in which spiders are extremely amenable to study. With this growth came a new generation of independent women arachnologists. As the presence of women has grown in arachnology, so too has their ability to serve as mentors and role models to a younger generation of students from identities underrepresented in arachnology. Indeed, recent years have seen the student composition of meeting presenters reach close to a balanced gender composition. However, there is still considerable male gender bias in more senior positions in arachnology, including not only academic positions, but also first-authored papers, and oral presentations at meetings. Through examination of science and other STEM fields, we can better understand the barriers women face in academia. We conclude that, while we still have a way to go to achieve gender equity in arachnology, there are multiple avenues towards progress, including utilizing technology to better connect with students on a wider scale, improving our science communication, assessing hiring practices and tenure review, and increasing support, recognition and guidance given to early-career arachnologists.

A history of the women who contributed to research of arachnids in Britain during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is presented. Publication trends, notable achievements, and membership of the British Arachnological Society (BAS) and its Council are all discussed. A checklist of all published work by female arachnologists in publications of the British Arachnological Society from its inception (as the Flatford Mill Spider Group) in 1958 to the year 2000 is given.

A checklist of all currently described matronymic genera in spiders honouring arachnologists (both valid and invalid nomina) is given, along with discussion on their taxonomic history and about the honourees of each respective genus. We located a total of 30 matronyms named for arachnologists. Three women have three valid generic nomina named for them. One has one valid generic nomen and two invalid generic nomina by consequence of homonymy. Four have two valid matronyms each, one has one valid generic nomen and one invalid generic nomen by consequence of homonymy, and the rest of the women honoured each have a single valid generic nomen. A total of eight women in Europe have been honoured, two women have been honoured from each of North America, South America, and Oceania, and only one woman has been honoured from each of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.

We review the development of field guides (in a broad sense) to British spiders from 1678 to the present day, and note features which made, or make, them more or less suitable for use in the field. The review concludes by exploring the future of paper field guides to this group of organisms in the era of electronic devices.

Octavius Pickard-Cambridge described 108 new spider species from material collected by Ferdinand Stoliczka on the Second Yarkand Expedition 1873–1874. A brief history of the both the first and second expeditions is given, along with a detail account of the material history. Due to the death of Stoliczka in the field whilst on the return leg of the expedition, much of the data that accompanied the specimens was lost. Despite this, the collection remains an important one, representing some of the earliest material known to western science from the region. Since description, the types have largely gone unrecognised in the collection due the various difficulties in identifying them. In 2017 a project was started to rectify this. To date, 36 species have been redescribed. Through a combination of specimen study and archival research it has been possible to present a corrected locality list for 78 of the type specimens. Advice for those wishing to study the Yarkand material or historic spider collections of this nature is given.

Spiders (Araneae) can be placed within a series of nested clades within Arachnida. Arachnopulmonata encompasses all arachnids with book lungs. Pantetrapulmonata encompasses arachnids with four pairs of lungs in their ground pattern. Tetrapulmonata potentially encompasses pantetrapulmonate arachnids which have reduced the number of lateral eye lenses and endites on the coxae of the first pair of walking legs. Serikodiastida encompasses arachnids with opisthosomal silk glands. Several spider-like fossils, some of which were previously interpreted as spiders, may belong either here or in the wider tetrapulmonate group. Araneida encompasses arachnids with spinnerets and a male palpal organ, and fossils reveal that the common ancestor of spiders would have retained a flagelliform telson. Araneae can thus be defined as spiders which have lost the telson, something which appears to have occurred multiple times among arachnids. The oldest fossil example of each of these clades is documented, and compared to molecular estimates of origination dates where available, to yield a broad temporal and phylogenetic framework for spider origins.

The spider family Pholcidae includes several species that have followed humans to other continents and around the world. Negative impacts of these species on the local faunas have never been reported. Here, we present results of a short collecting trip to Galápagos in 2019, focusing on two species that have been introduced to the archipelago by humans and whose spread appears correlated with, if not causally linked to, the decline or disappearance of two native species occupying the same micro-habitats: 1) the local abundance of the introduced Modisimus culicinus (Simon, 1893) appears negatively correlated with the abundance of the native Galapa bella (Gertsch & Peck, 1992), and 2) the recently introduced Smeringopus pallidus (Blackwall, 1858) is now abundant in caves where a few decades ago the native Aymaria jarmila (Gertsch & Peck, 1992) was present. The last species was not found in any of the six caves visited on Santa Cruz Island in 2019, suggesting that it may be seriously threatened. In addition, we present new records of Pholcidae from Galápagos and re-emphasize the need to reconsider the distinction between the two epigean Aymaria species on Galápagos: A. conica (Banks, 1902) and A. insularis (Banks, 1902).

The Murphy collection of Oriental Linyphiidae consists of 25 identifiable species, two of which are new to science: Johorea pectinata sp. n. (♂) from West Malaysia and Locketina murphyorum sp. n. (♂♀) from East Malaysia. A new synonym and a new combination are proposed: Nasoona prominula Locket, 1982 = Nasoona crucifera (Thorell, 1895) syn. n.; Microbathyphantes minimus (Locket, 1982) ex Kaestneria comb. n. Atypena cirrifrons (Heimer, 1984) is recorded from Sri Lanka for the first time; Kaestneria bicultrata Chen & Yin, 2000 is new for Hong Kong, China; M. minimus and Nasoona locketi Millidge, 1995 are new for Bali, Indonesia; Neriene macella (Thorell, 1898) and Plectembolus triflectus Millidge & Russell-Smith, 1992 are new for Sabah, East Malaysia; Prosoponoides kaharianum Millidge & Russell-Smith, 1992 is new for Java, Indonesia; P. sinense (Chen, 1991), Tapinopa undata Zhao & Li, 2014, and Theoa vesica Zhao & Li, 2014 are new for West Malaysia.

An annotated catalogue of all specimens of the family Theraphosidae Thorell, 1869 held in the collections of the Manchester Museum is presented.

A new species of Aelurillus Simon, 1885 from Kenya, A. murphyorum sp. n. (♂, Baringo County), is diagnosed, illustrated and described.

Patelloceto Lyle & Haddad, 2010 is a small genus of dark sac spiders from the Afrotropical region, diagnosed by very distinct morphology of the genitalia, males with femoral, patellar, and tibial apophyses, females with a broad membranous median septum separating the small lateral spermathecae, and long, oblique, lateral epigynal hoods flanking copulatory openings. Here, two new species of Patelloceto are described from Kenya, from material collected by John and Frances Murphy almost half a century ago. Both new species are diagnosed and illustrated, an updated map of the distribution of the genus is provided, as well as an updated key to species of the genus. The number of Patelloceto species is increased from three to five, and the number of trachelid spiders recorded from Kenya is increased from four to six.

Four Irura species, including one new to science, are diagnosed and illustrated: I. bidenticulata Guo, Zhang & Zhu, 2011 (♂♀) from south-east China, I. johnmurphyi sp. n. (♂♀) from Malaysia, I. longiochelicera (Peng & Yin, 1991) (♀) from China and Malaysia, and I. onoi (Prószyński & Deeleman-Reinhold, 2013) from Indonesia and Malaysia. A new combination is proposed: Irura onoi (Prószyński & Deeleman-Reinhold, 2013), ex Stertinius, comb. n. A brief discussion of the relationships between the genera Irura Peckham & Peckham, 1901 and Stertinius Simon, 1890 is also provided.

A new genus of ant-eating spider, Murphydrela gen. n. is described from central and east Africa. Three new species, Murphydrela johannis gen. n. et sp. n. (type species, ♂♀), M. francescae gen. n. et sp. n. (♂♀), and M. michaelis gen. n. et sp. n. (♂) are described and illustrated. Two species originally described in the genus Cydrela Thorell, 1873 are transferred to Murphydrela: M. kreagra (Nzigidahera & Jocqué, 2010) comb. n. and M. neptuna (Nzigidahera & Jocqué, 2010) comb. n. The genus is unique within the Zodariidae in having the retrolateral tibial apophysis substituted by 3 or 4 stout spines arranged in a single row. A key to the species of Murphydrela is provided and their distribution is mapped and discussed.

Two new theraphosine genera and one new species are described from Peru, based on material from the collections in the Natural History Museum, London. Anqasha gen. n. is described to house Anqasha picta (Pocock, 1903) gen. et comb. n., ex. Hapalopus. The holotype male of A. picta is redescribed, with the female described for the first time. Two new localities for A. picta are recorded, extending the distribution of this species. Another monotypic genus, Murphyarachne gen. n., is described to house a new species Murphyarachne ymasumacae gen. et sp. n. based on a holotype female.

A new palpimanid genus, Sceliraptor gen. n., and two new species, S. murphiorum gen. n. et sp. n. (♂; type species) and S. jaegeri gen. n. et sp. n. (♂), are diagnosed and described from Kenya. In the shape of the anterior part of the carapace, and the structure of the eye group and legs, the new genus seems to be related to the chedimine genera Scelidocteus Simon, 1907, Sceliscelis Oketch & Li, 2020 and, especially, to Sarascelis Simon, 1893; it reliably differs from them in the structure of a gently and gradually descending posterior part of the carapace and by a very deep and narrow slit-like thoracic fovea (compared to a respectively sharply sloping posterior carapace and a wider fovea in the related genera). Additionally, the male palp structure in Sceliraptor gen. n. species is distinct from that of all the related genera. The two newly described species can be distinguished by the palp structure, configuration of the embolus and supporting structures of the bulb, and by the shape of abdominal sclerites. Distribution records of Sarascelis chaperi Simon, 1887, Scelidocteus vuattouxi Jézéquel, 1964, and Sceliscelis marshi Oketch & Li, 2020 are updated.

Spiders of genus Zelanda Özdikmen, 2009 are represented by six species from New Zealand: Z. erebus (L. Koch, 1873), Z. elongata (Forster, 1979), Z. kaituna (Forster, 1979), Z. obtusa (Forster, 1979), Z. miranda (Forster, 1979), and Z. titirangia (Ovtsharenko, Fedoryak & Zakharov, 2006). These species are revised, redescribed, and illustrated. The new genus Avstroneulanda gen. n. is described. Both genera appear to represent the sister groups of the taxa that are characterized by the strongly procurved posterior eye row, the large and flattened posterior median eyes of rhomboid or irregular shape, the antero-lateral spinnerets with long pyriform gland spigots and a hood (which is unique for gnaphosoid spiders), and deeply notched trochanters. The genus Avstroneulanda gen. n. is diverse and common in Australia, Tasmania, and Papua New Guinea and represented by 13 new species belonging to two groups: the grayi group with five species: A. grayi gen. n. et sp. n. (♂♀), A. robertsi gen. n. et sp. n. (♂♀), A. julianneae gen. n. et sp. n. (♂♀), A. johnmurphyi gen. n. et sp. n. (♂♀), and A. joyae gen. n. et sp. n. (♂), and the harveyi group with eight species: A. harveyi gen. n. et sp. n. (♂♀), A. raveni gen. n. et sp. n. (♂♀), A. mariya gen. n. et sp. n. (♂♀), A. serratta gen. n. et sp. n. (♂), A. yarraman gen. n. et sp. n. (♀), A. lawless gen. n. et sp. n. (♀), A. hostosi gen. n. et sp. n. (♂♀), and A. kokoda gen. n. et sp. n. (♂). The species A. hostosi gen. n. et sp. n. and A. kokoda gen. n. et sp. n. are described from Papua New Guinea, while the remainder are from Australia and Tasmania.

The genus Palliduphantes Saaristo & Tanasevitch, 2001 is revised in the fauna of Italy. For each species, all known localities, new records, and remarks are provided. A synonymy of P. garganicus (Caporiacco, 1951) with P. istrianus (Kulczyński, 1914) syn. n. is proposed on the basis of a morphological comparison. Two new species, P. murphyi sp. n. (♂♀) and P. robertsi sp. n. (♂♀), are described from southern Italy. The new species are named after the prominent British arachnologists John Murphy and Mike Roberts, recently passed away.

North African species of the genus Lycosoides Lucas, 1846 are revised. Five new species are described: L. incisofemoralis Bosmans, sp. n. (♂♀) from Algeria, L. kabyliana Bosmans, sp. n. (♂♀) from Algeria, L. murphyorum Bosmans, sp. n. (♂♀) from Morocco, L. robertsi Bosmans, sp. n. (♂) from Tunisia, and L. saiss Bosmans, sp. n. (♂♀) from Morocco. Previously unknown sexes are first described for two species: L. leprieuri (Simon, 1875) from Algeria (♀) and L. parva (Denis, 1954) from Morocco (♂). One synonym is proposed: Lycosoides subfasciata (Simon, 1870) with L. flavomaculata (Lucas, 1843), syn. n. An identification key to all Lycosoides species of the Maghreb is provided. A complicated shape of the palpal conductor, with distinct dorsal and ventral branches, appears to be an important diagnostic character for the genus Lycosoides.

As part of a biodiversity survey in the arid western interior of South Africa, two new species of dionychan spiders were collected and are described herein. The prodidomid genus Namundra Platnick & Bird, 2007, previously known from arid parts of Namibia and Angola, is recorded from South Africa for the first time, and N. murphyi sp. n. is described from a single female. Scanning electron micrographs, based on juvenile specimens only, detail some aspects of the fine morphology of this enigmatic genus for the first time. A new species of the trochanteriid genus Platyoides O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1891, P. robertsi sp. n., is described from three females. DNA barcodes (cytochrome oxidase subunit I, COI) are provided for all of the specimens included in this paper.

A new species of trechaleid spider, Paratrechalea murphyi sp. n. (♂♀), is diagnosed, described. and illustrated. The species is based on the male and female specimens collected 20 years ago in a conservation unit in the Cerrado biome of Brazil. An attempt to find new specimens in the type locality and in a few nearby locations failed, raising the possibility that the species is threatened with extinction. We provide a complete picture of the distribution of Paratrechalea, including new records for all previously known species, and discuss the implications of our results in face of current threats to the Cerrado biota.

New faunistic and taxonomic data are provided for 15 families of Iranian spiders. Two lycosid species, Alopecosa murphyorum sp. n. (♂, Semnan Province) and Alopecosa robertsi sp. n. (♂, Zanjan Province), are described as new to science. Nine species are recorded from Iran for the first time, and 182 new provincial records are provided for 53 species. Among new distributional data, the first confirmed record of the family Leptonetidae in Iran, representing its easternmost record in the West Palaearctic, is provided, as well as a redescription of the recently described Evippa amitaii Armiach Steinpress, Alderweireldt, Cohen, Chipman & Gavish-Regev, 2021 (Lycosidae), and illustrations for the examined type material of Evippa luteipalpis Roewer, 1955 (Lycosidae). Two species, Aulonia albimana (Walckenaer, 1805) (Lycosidae) and Tetragnatha javana (Thorell, 1890) (Tetragnathidae) are removed from the list of Iranian spiders, while Piratula insularis (Emerton, 1885) (Lycosidae) is removed from the list of Turkish spiders. Furthermore, Steatoda paykulliana (Walckenaer, 1806) (Theridiidae) is recorded from India for the first time. The newly described and some other species representing new country or provincial records are illustrated.