Julien Tchilinguirian

@jtchi.bsky.social

M.S.c in conservation ecology & research in Arachnology, France. I've always been passionate about the biology and ecology of the arachnids of the world. Particularly fond of Linyphiidae, Scorpions, Uropygi, Amblypygi & others. https://linktr.ee/jtchi

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For #FossilFriday, meet Plesiosiro. This is a ~315 million year old weird arachnid, found near Birmingham in the UK. It's a lovely fossil but even so figuring out where it sits on the arachnid tree of life has been... annoyingly challenging. Nowadays, we are fairly confident that it... ⚒️🧪🦀🦑 #evosky

Two balck and white photographs showing the dorsal (back) surface of a fossil in a rock. The fossil is darker than the surrounding rock, and has a body starting with a bit of a point, then a front half, like a spider except a bit suqarer, and a posterior that - unlike a spider - is segmented. It was some legs visible, but much of them is buried in the rock. There is a (4mm, if you're intetested) scale bar on the image.A black and white reconstruction of this animal in pen, showing if from above, its underside, and in an angled face on view.

1. For the past thirty years I've had the best job in the world. 
I've had the opportunity to follow my curiosity; explore the workings of nature and society; mentor students and junior colleagues in the same process; and teach generations of students about it all.

J'ai mis un peu de temps à traiter les photos, mais début février, j'ai croisé par hasard ce mâle de mygale Atypus sp qui se baladait malgré le froid ! On la trouve nativement sur l'hexagone, et celui-ci faisait autour de 10/12mm de corps. Le reste du temps, elle reste bien planquée dans son terrier

vue de 3/4 face, on voit ses très grosses chélicères et ses crochets qui s'actionnent verticalementvue de haut, on voit ses tout petits yeuxvue de face

Some of the coolest and perhaps most under-appreciated African carnivores are solifuges. The ferocity of these incredible arachnids, a.k.a. camel spiders or sun spiders, easily matches that of the wild dogs and, just like the canines, they can dismember their prey in a matter of seconds.

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Do you have any wolf spiders (Lycosidae) collected in the last couple of years? If so, I am looking for specimens from any species and any location *in the world* to add to a genetic study of the family. Let me know if you think you can help!

Whip spider (Paraphrynus laevifrons) covered with chloropid fly puparia. The parasitoid fly attacks the eggs carried by the female. When done, the maggots climb on the "childless" mom's back and pupate. She protects them during this period thanks to her motherly instincts.

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For #FossilFriday may I present to you an amazing scorpion, Pulmonoscorpius kirktonensis. It may look like the moult of a modern species, but these are actually ~330 million year old fossils, dissolved out of a rock from 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 using acid. ⚒️🧪🦀🦑 #evosky

A black and white photograph of a fossil scorpion, the front towards the right. Y ou can see mouthparts (chelicerae and pedipalps with pincers), four walking legs, and then a body and tail. A colour photograph of a fossil scorpion, this time with the top pointing upwards. It also has nice pedipalps and a good body, but the limbs are a bit more scrappy than the other picture. It does have an impressive sting though. A black and white reconstruction of this super cool fossil species by Jason Dunlop. It's beautifull stippled, and shows the scorpion in dorsal view, with the front upward. It looks a fair bit like a modern scorpion. The man is an amazing artist.

I was really excited to be able to key out this tiny (395 micron) mesostig mite I found in coast redwood leaf litter all the way to species - not an easy task for most mites. Meet Cosmozercon setosus, slide mounted in Hoyer's medium. 🤩

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1/2 #speciesaday no. 519 is Troxochrus scabriculus. A small, local money spider that I almost always only find on chalky arable fields on the Downs (where it can be quite numerous), using the suction sampler. Although I have had it on amenity grassland in central Brighton too.

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The insanity of being a fire ecologist in the epicenter of a major fire event, bags packed and ready to evacuate, watching active fire from my window, while taking media requests and explaining to the public, for the 100,000th time how climate change is largely responsible for this

It's been 97 years. In early 1927, arachnologist William Barrows was collecting spiders near Gainesville, Florida and came across a new species of armored dwarf spider that he later named Floricomus bishopi. It was never seen again. That is until @tyuge.bsky.social found it again in GA! Behold!

Anteriolateral view of a male of the spider, Floricomus bishopi.Dorsal view of a male of the spider, Floricomus bishopi.