Diario del proyecto 2021 Spider Fest Utah BioBlitz

Calling all Utah spider observers! 2021 Spider Fest is this week, and we need your help looking for spiders in Utah! We're aiming to boost spider biodiversity records in the state and share the UT spider love virtually, all in celebration of Antelope Island State Park's annual Spider Festival. Any observations you make of spiders this week in Utah (through Sunday, August 8th) will automatically count towards the 2021 spider bioblitz. Last year's bioblitz identified over 40 species in 16 UT counties, including some first records on iNaturalist for UT...what will you find this year? We're excited to find out!

*More on the 2021 Spider Fest Bioblitz project
*NHMU's spider photography tips for iNaturalist
*Antelope Island Spider Festival

-The Natural History Museum of Utah Citizen Science team

@tigerbb @danielmenlove @jennifermenlove @elleneiriksson @nicole1158 @littlenutmeg @hmcentire @bjnicholls @maticus @chad_w @aroe @sarah1990 @cody49 @zookanthos @tobiashays @lbdennis @b_dennis @thecrazycolt1 @sabrina33 @wecho @kmosbruger @zeg02 @ethangallup @amandaaamodt @andrew929 @trisha47 @chandler13 @bioinformatic @nattlesbtw @natureissupercool @jessica1275 @ruth187 @wasatch_hunter @camsha315 @alexanimalphotos @cbills @connie43 @lcthompson @stefmonkey @once_casadastraphobic_bird @tsirtalis @marysmilodon @jill_dehaan @hannawacker @krechols13 @dprasad @jacklasley @chrisjensen1 @thecrazycolt1 @kcrstutz @madsess @finnegan-thenaturalist

Antelope Island State Park is hosting a Spider Fest Photo Contest, and TODAY is the last day to submit an image. Have an original photo you would like to submit? Email it to Justina Parsons by midnight today (August 4, 2021)!

More info & Guidelines:
Submit original photography of spiders that you have taken yourself in 2021 by midnight, August 4, 2021 . Please include name and age of photographer and submit in jpeg format 1 mb size. Limit one submission per photographer. All accepted photos will be displayed in Utah State Parks’ smugmug virtual gallery. Utah State Parks encourage ethical photography (no trapping/harming spiders). Winners will receive some super awesome fun prizes. Send your submissions to jparsonsbernstein@utah.gov by midnight 8/4/21.

There have been some great spider finds in Utah so far this week, and we're excited to see what else you come across! The bioblitz runs through Sunday 8/8, so there are three more days to find spiders!

If you haven't read NHMU's tips for making ideal spider observations on iNaturalist (submitting images that can be ID'd as much as possible), take a quick read here: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/2020-spider-fest-bioblitz/journal/39091-making-ideal-spider-observations-on-inaturalist

Know anyone in central or southern Utah? If so, spread the word! We'd love to see more observations come in from across the state. You can see the map of current observations here.

@tigerbb, what observations have you been excited to see come through so far?

This year’s Spider Fest bioblitz led to more than 200 observations spanning 12 Utah counties, and a great range of genera and species! Here are some of our favorites:

➢ First record in Utah of a potential Aculepeira carbonarioides, a broadly distributed member of Typical Orbweavers (Subfamily Araneinae) that is relatively uncommon (this is the first iNaturalist record of the species in Utah, and 10th record in the US). Great find @cscottgrant!
➢ This Tyrell's Tufted Jumping Spider (Phidippus tyrrelli), our first Spider Fest bioblitz record from Daggett County, by @bryanl

And great photos:
➢ Western Spotted Orbweaver(Neoscona oaxacensis) by @amandabarth82
➢ Western Lynx Spider(Oxyopes scalaris) by @maticus
➢ Juvenile Usofila flava by @tobiashays

Check out Rebecca Ray's mid-blitz highlights for more awesome observations!

Cheers to the 2021 Spider Fest top observers & identifiers: @tigerbb @elleneiriksson @tobiashays @bjnicholls @raised_by_furbies @hypersonicgx @maticus @amandabarth82 @thesplash @marysmilodon @aroe @calebcam

We'll see you again for Spider Fest 2022!

-NHMU Citizen Science team