Spider Biology

Rainer F. Foelix (1943) studied Natural Sciences in Germany (University of Erlangen) and Switzerland (University of Zurich) from 1962-1968 and received his PhD in Zoology in 1969. He then spent five years as a postdoctoral researcher in the USA (North Carolina), where he began his spider research in the laboratory of Peter Witt, who had discovered the influence of drugs on spider webs. However, his focus was more on functional anatomy and neurobiology, especially on the sensory organs of web spiders. These studies were later expanded on ticks (Entomology Dept. NCSU) and other arachnid orders such as scorpions and whip spiders at the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. His first book on spiders was published in German (Biologie der Spinnen) in 1979 and in English in 1982 and quickly became the reference book on spiders.
Later positions (after 1982) were held at the Anatomy and Zoology Departments of the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) and finally as Curator of the Natural History Museum in Aarau (Switzerland) (until 2008). Even after his retirement, his research on spiders continued, with numerous original arachnological publications appearing over a period of 50 years.