
Stefan FoordUniversity of Venda | univen · Department of Zoology
Stefan Foord
PhD
SARChI Chair: Biodiversity Value and Change in the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve
About
372
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Introduction
I have varied research interests but I mainly focus on change in environments, how animals respond to these changes, and the resultant change in communities. I have published in taxonomy, conservation biology, biogeography and global change in both terrestrial and freshwater systems but community ecology and assembly are my primary focus.
Additional affiliations
December 2016 - May 2017
July 1997 - July 2016
December 2012 - December 2014
Publications
Publications (372)
Zodariids are wandering spiders, and important components of the ground-dwelling spider assemblage in South Africa. The family is known from 90 genera and 1298 species (World Spider Catalog, 2024) and 22 genera and 97 species are listed from South Africa. However, species of three more genera Mallinella, Mastidiores and Microdiores still need to be...
An annotated species list of spiders presently known from the Bontebok National Park (BNP) is provided. The checklist was compiled from data collected from the South African National Survey of Arahnida (SANSA) database. A total of 184 species from 44 families and 134 genera are presently protected in the park. The most species-rich families are the...
The family Cyrtaucheniidae is relimited to nine genera distributed across Africa, Asia, and South America. Only the genus Ancylotrypa Simon, 1889, is known from South Africa, represented by 29 species. An overview of the genus was provided by Dippenaar-Schoeman (2002) but has not yet been revised. Opatova et al. (2020) provided new insight into the...
Savannas cover almost a third of terrestrial Earth, but their exceptional biodiversity values are often underappreciated. Large tracts of temperate savanna have disappeared, while tropical savanna has been earmarked for agriculture. Contemporary threats include agriculture, altered disturbance regimes, resource extraction, inappropriate fire regime...
The South African National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA) was initiated in 1997, and now 27 years later we review the present state of our knowledge on the spiders. Conservation biogeography concerns species' distribution dynamics, and large datasets are available for spiders. We give feedback on the updated national and provincial checklist and the l...
Spider species distribution in the Cape Floristic Kingdom (CFK) was compiled as part of the South African National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA), whose main aim was to create a relational database for the country's arachnid fauna. Data from the CFK was extracted from taxonomic and faunistic published papers, as well as unpublished faunistic survey da...
Zodariids are wandering spiders and important components of the ground-dwelling spider assemblage in South Africa. The family is known from 90 gene-ra and 1298 species (World Spider Catalog 2024), and 97 species and 22 genera have been recorded from South Africa. Of these, 67 species (69%) are South African endemics, 22 (23%) are Southern African e...
The Prodidomidae occurs worldwide and is known from 23 genera and
192 species. From South Africa, six genera and 29 species. Seventeen of the
29 species are South African endemics, with seven species known only
from the type locality. Eleven species are widely known from other Southern
African countries and only one species Eleleis limpopo Rodrigue...
Notes on four Festucula species are provided. One species, F. botswana sp. nov., is described as new to science (♀, Botswana). The name F. monticola is revalidated and the male of this species is assigned. The female of F. lawrencei is described for the first time. A new record of F. leroyae is provided.
SANSA feedback 2023 1
Arachnids of Amathole Mountains 2
Ammoxenus and Microhodotermes viator 3
Platnickia mneon now P. adamsoni 3
Argiope australis used as arrow poison 4
Revision of Gymnobisiidae 4
Updated spider checklist 5
Dimizonops first record SA 5
Spiders and stone crush mining 6
Annual Diamant route conference 6
New genera and species 7
Rec...
A checklist of 2265 spider species and subspecies, 495 genera and 71 families is provided. Data were extracted from the South African National Survey of Arachnida database and over 200 taxonomic revisions, ending December 2022. Global distributions, endemicity and conservation assessment using IUCN Criteria are provided for each species. A total of...
21 The rapid expansion of macadamia production areas in South Africa is linked to increased 22 irrigation water use. Improving water use efficiency is paramount for sustainable production, 23 yet, knowledge of the specific macadamia water requirements and water use behaviour is 24 limited. To close this gap, we set up field experiments to: (i) dete...
With water quality deteriorating rapidly at a global scale, river sections suited to serve as reference sites are being increasingly lost. It thus becomes critical to develop rapid methods to confirm that previously monitored sites continue meet the requirements of reliable reference sites. In the absence of pristine sites, 9 near-natural sites, as...
The family Agelenidae occurs worldwide and is known from 82 genera and 1323 species (World Spider Catalog 2020). Five genera represented by 10 species, are listed on the National Species List but only four on the World Spider Catalog for South Africa. Most African genera of the family Agelenidae require revision except Mistaria which was revised by...
The family Anyphaenidae is represented by more than 56 genera and 565
species with a worldwide distribution, but only one species Amaurobioides
africana Hewitt, 1917, is recorded from South Africa.
Provide information on species listed in genera E-N
The family Atypidae is known from five genera and 90 species (World Spider Catalog 2020). Only one genus, Calommata Lucas, 1837, represented by 13 species, are known from Africa and two of them from South Africa. They are very rare spiders and both of them are restricted endemics. Calommata meridionalis Fourie, Haddad & Jocqué, 2011 is listed as Ne...
The family Archaeidae is known from five genera and 90 species (World Spider
Catalog 2020). Only one genus Afrarchaea C. L. Koch & Berendt, 1854, represented
by 14 species, are known from South Africa. Through a series of five
papers all the species of the genus were described. They are rare spiders and
not easily sampled. Most of them are restrict...
The global macadamia industry is growing rapidly, and the world's biggest macadamia nut producer, South Africa, is continuously expanding its production. Insect pest mitigation and research are mainly focused on the damage caused by heteropteran pest species, whereas the damage associated with lepidopteran tortricid moths in South African macadamia...
This study quantifies the effect of fertilizer and irrigation management on water use efficiency (WUE), crop growth and crop yield in sub-humid to semi-arid conditions of Limpopo Province, South Africa. An approach of coupling a cropping system model (DSSAT) with an agro-hydrological model (SWAT) was developed and applied to simulate crop yield at...
Climate and insect pests are vital variables that affect crop production. Climate change will alter the magnitude and timing of precipitation, but how rainfall and temperature interact to affect insect pest damage in agriculture is poorly understood. Here, we explore the interacting effects of elevation and contrasting weather conditions (a wet vs....
The Filistatidae is represented by 18 genera and 189species. Three genera are known to date from Africa namely Afrofilistata Benoit, 1968, Andoharano Lehtinen, 1967 and Pritha Lehtinen, 1967 but only one Andoharana sp. so far positively identified from South Africa. But several filistatid specimens have been sampled from South Africa but has yet to...
The gold band jumping spider Thyene natalii Peckham & Peckham, 1903 has a wide distribution in Africa and is known from Ethio-pia in the north to South Africa in the south. The general morphology of both sexes of the species is discussed, with photographs of live specimens with notes on their agrobiont behaviour, distribution, and conservation stat...
Due to global climate change, droughts are likely to become more frequent and more severe in many regions such as in South Africa. In Limpopo, observed high climate variability and projected future climate change will likely increase future maize production risks. This paper evaluates drought patterns in Limpopo at two representative sites. We stud...
Temperature tolerance is an essential component of insect fitness, and its understanding can provide a predictive framework for their distribution and abundance. The two-spotted stink bug, Bathycoelia distincta Distant, is a significant pest of macadamia. The main goal of this study was to investigate the thermal tolerance of B. distincta across di...
We present the first records of the butterfly theridiid Episinus marignaci (Lessert, 1933) beyond its type locality, resulting in an extension of its geographic range from Angola to South Africa. Images of live specimens and a dis-tribution map are provided. Episinus marignaci is rare locally but has a relatively large geographical distribution in...
The family Araneidae has a worldwide distribution with a large diversity of 174 genera and 3128 species. With the large number of specimens sampled during the South African National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA) several genera have been identified as possibly new records for South Africa. In this guide (part 3) we discuss the genera (Ne-Z) and specie...
The world is firmly cemented in a notitian age (Latin: notitia, meaning data) – drowning in data, yet thirsty for information and the synthesis of knowledge into understanding. As concerns over biodiversity declines escalate, the volume, diversity and speed at which new environmental and ecological data are generated has increased exponentially. Da...
The influence of short-duration, concentrated kraaling (enclosure) has been documented for plants, wildlife, and macro-invertebrates. However, limited information is available on its impact on ground-dwelling spiders. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of short-duration kraaling, time since cattle removal, and microhabitat variables...
Biodiversity patterns along elevational gradients are generally characterised by monotonic decreases or mid-elevational peaks in species richness, while elevational zones may be characterised by distinct assemblages, or higher zones may be subsets of lowland assemblages. Elevational gradients in diversity have been less studied in the Afrotropical...
The scorpion tail orb-web spider Arachnura scorpionoides Vinson, 1863 is for the first time reported from South Africa. This species has been recorded throughout South Africa, extending its current distribution range in Africa from Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Seychelles, Ma-yotte, Madagascar, Mauritius and Réunion to South Africa. The general morphology...
Temperature is a key element of insect fitness, and an understanding of thermal tolerance can provide a predictive framework for their distribution and abundance. The two-spotted stink bug, Bathycoelia
distincta (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), is a significant pest of macadamia. Distinct life stages of B. distinct cause kernel damage by direct feeding o...
The family Araneidae has a worldwide distribution with a large diversity of 174 genera and 3128 species. With the large number of specimens sampled during the South African National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA) several genera have been identified as possibly new records for South Africa. In this guide we discuss 47genera represented by 105 species t...
An annotated species list of spiders presently known from the Bontebok National Park (BNP) is provided. The checklist was compiled from data collected from the South African National Survey of Arahnida (SANSA) database. A total of 184 species from 44 families and 134 genera are presently protected in the park. The most species-rich families are the...
Theory on intraguild killing (IGK) is central to mammalian carnivore community ecology and top‐down ecosystem regulation. Yet, the cryptic nature of IGK hinders empirical evaluations. Using a novel data source – online photographs of interspecific aggression between African carnivores – we revisited existing predictions about the extent and drivers...
Badumna longinqua (L. Koch, 1867) (Araneae: Desidae) is a web-building spider indigenous to eastern and
southern Australia; it has been introduced to several countries in North and South America, as well as New Zealand,
Japan and Germany. In South Africa, where it was formally recorded for the first time a decade ago, B. longinqua has been
sampled...
The family Segestriidae is represented by four genera and 136 species with a wide distribution. A single genus Ariadna, represented by 15 species, is known from South Africa. The genus has not yet been revised. For only two species Ariadna corticola Lawrence, 1952 and Ariadna karrooica Purcell, 1904 are known of both sexes. Five species are known o...
Scytodidae is a small family of 5 genera and 245 species with a worldwide distribution. From South Africa, a single genus Scytodes represented by 30 species are known. Twenty-three of the species are South African endemics but 16 of
these species are known only from one sex and seven are known only from the type
locality this resulted in 37% of the...
The family Lycosidae is a large family with 2428 known genera. From South Africa 24genera represent by 110 species of which 60 species are endemics. Since using pitfall traps in terrestrial invertebrate surveys, the number of lycosids in spider collections has increased dramatically. Several authors have stated that, at present, the taxonomy of lyc...
The Idiopidae of South Africa is known from six genera and 45 species. To date, no generic revisions of the Idiopidae of South Africa have been undertaken. For the South African genera, Tucker (1917) recognized the number, size, and position of sigilla as being distinct for each genus. If accepted, species from Idiops to
other genera will be moved....
The genus Thelechoris Karsch, 1881 was transferred from the Dipluridae to the family Ischnothelidae. The Ischnothelidae is represented by five genera and 26 species. Only one species, Thelechoris striatipes (Simon, 1889), is known from South Africa. Due to its wide geographical range, it is listed as being of Least Concern.
The family Migidae is trapdoor spiders that live in burrows made in the soil or sac-like nests made in trees that are closed with hinged trapdoors. They are represented by two genera (Moggridgea O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1875 and Poecilomigas Simon, 1903) from South Africa represented by 22 species. Both genera have been revised in 1987. Only eight spe...
The family Barychelidae is represented by 42 genera and 295 species and has a worldwide distribution. Only two genera from three species are presently known from South Africa but they are not listed in the World Spider Catalog for the country. The family is in need of a revision. The three species recorded here have a wide distribution and are list...
Riparian zone vegetation plays an integral role in freshwater ecology, notably by buffering water temperatures, and in providing habitat for the adult stages of many aquatic species. We measured the contribution that riparian vegetation makes to temperature buffering, and how this affects the freshwater fauna, specifically using changes in abundanc...
Blackflies are amongst the most abundant and diverse group of aquatic insects globally, being rarely absent from rivers, their distributions are largely driven by current velocity, conductivity and total dissolved solids (TDS). While research on blackflies has mainly focused on medical, veterinary and economic aspects, ecological studies in the Afr...
As the impacts of the anthropocene intensifies, there is an increasing need to understand how these changes affect both daily and sub‐daily stream flow variability, timing and flow quantities, as these are some of the most influential drivers of spatial and temporal dynamics of stream biota. In this paper, long‐term changes in flow patterns of a st...
Recent declines in invertebrates are linked to anthropogenic global change drivers thus land use planning that considers invertebrate conservation is necessary. Although most animals are invertebrates, conservation initiatives largely ignore these groups in part because of a paucity of studies addressing their diversity patterns. Biosphere Reserves...
As the impacts of the anthropocene intensifies in rivers, there is an increasing need to understand how these changes affect both daily and sub-daily stream flow variability, timing and flow quantities, as these are some of the most influential drivers of spatial and temporal dynamics of stream biota. In this paper, long-term changes in flow patter...
A Guide that includes descriptions, conservation status, distribution records and maps, photos, and images of diagnostic characteristics, for all the known hersiliid species in South Africa
Many human activities have an impact on the fauna and flora of the South African Grassland Biome, including agriculture, fire and urbanisation. Disturbances in grassland habitats often result in Hyparrhenia hirta, a native pioneer grass species, establishing dense stands. Here the assemblage composition, species richness and abundance of spiders as...
Quantifying how multiple ecosystem services and functions are affected by different drivers of Global Change is challenging. Particularly in African savanna regions, highly integrated land-use activities created a landscape mosaic with flows of multiple resources between land use types. A framework is needed that quantifies the effects of climate c...
High-altitude-adapted ectotherms can escape competition from dominant species by tolerating low temperatures at cooler elevations, but climate change is eroding such advantages. Studies evaluating broad-scale impacts of global change for high-altitude organisms often overlook the mitigating role of biotic factors. Yet, at fine spatial-scales, veget...
The family Cyatholipidae is represented by 23 genera and 58 species known mainly from the Afrotropical, Australian and Neotropical Regions. Six genera and 16 species are known from South Africa. They are rare spiders and most of them are restricted endemics; two species are listed as Critically Rare, two are Vulnerable, one is Endangered, one is Ra...
The family Microstigmatidae is a small family represented by 12 genera, with only the genus Microstigmata Strand, 1932, known from South Africa. It is represented by six species that have been revised in 1985. This small group of mygalomorph spiders runs and is usually encrusted with earth. They are usually known from the undergrowth in humid Easte...
The family Lycosidae is a large family with 2428 known genera. From South Africa 24 genera represent by 110 species of which 60 species are endemics. Since using pitfall trap in terrestrial invertebrate surveys, the number of lycosids in spider collections has increased dramatically. Several authors have stated that, at present, the taxonomy of lyc...
The Oecobiidae is a small family of spiders represented by six genera and 119 species. Seven species represented by three genera have been recorded from South Africa. The two species of Oecobius are both known to be invasive and have a wide worldwide distribution. The genus Paroecobius was described by Lamoral (1981) as an African endemic. Only one...
The Orsolobidae is represented by 30 genera and 188 species. From South Africa three genera represented by four species are known. Two of the species are Western Cape endemics Afrilobus australis Griswold & Platnick, 1987 and Calculus bicolor Purcell, 1910 with Afrilobus capensis Griswold & Platnick, 1987 known from the Western and Northern Cape. O...
The Philodromidae are represented by 30 genera; eight are known from the Afrotropical Region and six from South Africa, where it is represented by 34 species. Only one genus Tibellus has been revised. Most of the genera of the Philodromidae are very commonly sampled from plants with only a few genera and species found living on the ground. During S...
The Cithaeronidae is a small family of spiders represented by two genera, Cithaeron and Inthaeron, but only one species, Cithaeron contentum Jocqué & Russel-Smith, 2011 is presently known from only one locality in South Africa. The species is under collected and more localities are suspected to occur. More sampling is needed, to determine the speci...
The family Liocranidae is represented 33 genera and 290 species worldwide. From South Africa, three genera are represented by 11 spp. and one subspecies. No genera have yet been revised in Africa. Of the South African species, seven are South African endemics, while four are known from southern Africa. Five species are Data Deficient and known only...
The family Mimetidae is a small family represented by 8 genera and 154 species that occur worldwide. The Mimetidae of South Africa has not yet been revised, and presently, only three genera represented by four species have been described.
The family Penestomidae is known only from South Africa and Lesotho from a single
genus and nine species, eight of which are endemic to South Africa. The family is rare, and very few specimens have been found in collections. Of the nine species, only two are known from both sexes, with the result that they still are listed as Data Deficient and two...
South Africa has a rich Phyxelididae fauna, represented by nine genera and 30 species. The family was revised in 1990. Of the 30 species, only three are known from southern Africa, while the rest are all South African endemics. Ten species are data deficient while 16 are listed as Least Concern due to their distribution and lack of threats. Only fo...
Stasimopidae is monotypic and represented by the genus Stasimopus Simon, 1892. It is a southern African endemic represented by 45 species and two subspecies. The genus has not yet been revised, and based on the morphological diversity contained within the genus, it is possible that it could be split into multiple genera at some point in the future...
The family Sicariidae contains three genera and 169 species. Two of the genera Hexophthalma and Loxosceles represented by 14 species, are known from South Africa. The Six-eyed Sand Spider (Hexophthalma) was revised by Lotz (2018), and four species are recognized from South Africa. Three of the species have a wide distribution and are listed as Leas...
A checklist of genera and species of the Pimeliinae (Tenebrionidae: Coleoptera) of the Vhembe Biosphere Reserve is provided. A total of 36 species are recorded. We provide brief biological notes on the tribes recorded from the Vhembe Region.
The Afrotropical spider genus Parabomis Kulczyński, 1901 is revised. Members of Parabomis are some of the smallest thomisids known, and occur from Eritrea in the north of Africa to South Africa in the south, but are absent from Madagascar. Prior to this study, three species were known, namely P. levanderi Kulczyński, 1901 (Eritrea, ♂), P. martini L...
The family Thomisidae is speciose and 2146 species representing 170 genera are known (World Spider Catalog 2020). This cosmopolitan family shows a great morphological diversity reflected in its division into several subfamilies. From South Africa, 38 genera represented by 143 species are presently known. Of the 38 genera, 17 genera and 76 species (...
The family Thomisidae is speciose and 2146 species representing 170 genera are known (World Spider Catalog 2020). This cosmopolitan family shows a great morphological diversity is reflected in its division into several subfamilies. From South Africa 38 genera represented by 143 species are presently known. Of the 38 genera 17 genera and 76 species...
Habitat structure is a key determinant of variation in biodiversity. The effects of increased vertical and horizontal vegetation structure can result in marked shifts in animal communities. This is particularly true for ants in response to woody thickening, with predicted negative impacts on ant diversity. We used pitfall traps to study the respons...
The family Euagridae has a worldwide distribution and is represented by 12 genera
and 81 species. The genera Allothele Tucker, 1920 and Euagrus Ausserer, 1875 represented by five species are known from South Africa. The species of Allothele have a wide distribution and are listed as Least Concern. The status of the single species Euagrus atropurpur...
Desidae is a cosmopolitan family represented by 60 genera. Only two species are
known from South Africa. For years, only a single species was known from South
Africa Desis formidabilis (O.P. Cambridge, 1890). They are intertidal hunters and
are always found in areas with a rocky shore. They are found between the low-water
neap and high-water neap t...
The Hersiliidae, a Gondwanan distribution, is known from 16 genera and
182 species. Three genera and 12 species are recorded from South Africa
of which seven are endemics. All known species were revised. Ten species
are listed as Least Concern. Tyrotama soutpansbergensis Foord &
Dippenaar-Schoeman, 2005 is currently threatened by loss of habitat du...
Many alien species have been introduced around the world as part of the pet trade, and some have escaped captivity and become invasive. In South Africa, many species of tarantula (Theraphosidae) are kept as pets. It is not known which species are traded, which are most popular, and whether their names are correctly applied. Online traders and physi...