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Guest blog post by Ying Wang, Qingzhen Meng, Yuri M. Marusik and Zhiyuan Yao
In a recent paper published in ZooKeys, a new genus of Lynx spider from China was named after the given name of ZooKeys subject editor Shuqiang Li, to honour him for his contributions in spider taxonomy. It is worth noting that from the publication of the first article on the taxonomy of Chinese spiders in 1842 by Cantor to the release of The Spiders of China by Song et al in 1999, the number of known Chinese spider species was only 2,361 through 175 years of cumulative research. In the past 25 years, spider research in China has been led by Shuqiang and his colleagues. To date, the number of Chinese spider species has exceeded 7,000, increased by 4,639 species in 25 years. These taxonomic research achievements are the result of the silent dedication of Shuqiang and his colleagues, and have laid a solid foundation for understanding and conserving China’s biodiversity.
Shuqiang is also a prolific arachnologist. By early 2025, he is author or coauthor for 2 063 new spider species, establishing him as the second most prolific arachnologist in history and one of the foremost taxonomists of the 21st century.
“I am delighted that the authors have named a spider genus after me. I hold the view that taxonomy should never be underestimated. Balanced disciplinary development is the foundation of healthy scholarship, and an overemphasis on high-profile disciplines is detrimental to social progress,” Shuqiang Li commented.
Research article:
Wang Y, Meng Q, Marusik YM, Yao Z (2025) Shuqiangius gen. nov., a new genus of Oxyopidae (Arachnida, Araneae) from China. ZooKeys 1261: 189-200. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1261.171511