Collection

The Arachnida collection of the Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz comprises more than 3,300 species, including types of 700 species, and approx. 230,000 individuals, and is today one of the museum’s most type-rich collections. The collection focuses on Oribatida (moss mites), Gamasina (predatory mites) and Araneae (web spiders).

The Oribatida collection is the most species- and individual-rich part of the Arachnida collection. In addition to the respective curators’ own collections (Hans-Dieter Engelmann, Thomas Schwalbe, Volker Hampe, Ricarda Lehmitz), it contains collections from Josef Starý and Gerd Weigmann, among others. The predominantly European species are mostly preserved in glycerine and/or alcohol. There is type material from Sergey G. Ermilov, Manfred Moritz, Ludwig Beck, Gerd Weigmann, Günther Krisper, Ladislav Miko, Reinhard Schuster, Thomas Schwalbe, Josef Starý, Tobias Pfingstl, Elizabeth A. Coetzee and Badamdorj Bayartogtokh.

The Mesostigmata collection with the Gamasina and Uropodina components, founded in 1984 by Dr. Axel Christian, today comprises mainly European species. Most of the individuals are stored in permanent microscopic slides. Important components are the collections of Marina Hutu (Uropodina), Gudo Dosse (Gamasina) and types of Wolfgang Karg (Gamasina).

The Actinedida collection was curated by Dr. David Russell from 2001 to 2024 and includes Central European species of Eupodina and Endeostigmata as well as the collection of Gudo Dosse (Tetranychoidea and Raphignathoidea) with mites from Europe, Asia and Africa and some Trombidiidae.

In the Araneae collection (web spiders) there are mainly specimens from Saxony, Thuringia and other German federal states, as well as from selected European regions such as the Balkans. The recent spiders are stored in alcohol. There is also material in amber (types by Jörg Wunderlich). A significant part of the collection goes back to Rudolf Graul from Lusatia. A large number of local spiders from Friedrich Sander let the collection grow. The Araneae collection also contains specimens from research projects of the Natural History Museum Görlitz from the 1990s to the present, collected and identified by Dr. Birgit Balkenhol.

The extensive observation data of the Oribatida and Gamasina are stored in the EDAPHOBASE data warehouse and are freely accessible after registration. The sampling data on the Araneae and the fossil mites in amber are stored in AQUiLA. The type material of Gamasina and Uropodina can freely be examined online in the virtual microscope (VIRMISCO).