Australasian Arachnological Society

The Australasian Arachnological Society is a body dedicated to promotion of knowledge and study of arachnids (spiders and other 8-legged arthropods) in the Australasian realm, which includes Australia, New Zealand, South-east Asia, Oceania and the Pacific Islands. Membership is open to all individuals and scientific institutions.[1] The Society maintains a large library of reference books and scientific journals housed at Queensland Museum. The society is informally structured to promote the study of arachnology to amateurs, students, professionals and institutions.

The Society was founded by Robert Raven in 1979. The first national meeting was held in 1989 as a special symposium of the 17th Annual General Meeting of the Australian Entomological Society in Tanunda, South Australia. A second meeting was convened on the periphery of the 12th International Congress of Arachnology, held in Brisbane in July 1992 by the International Society of Arachnology. Other meetings have included one in Canberra on the occasion of the Invertebrate Biodiversity and Conservation Conference in December 2005,[2] and joint participation with the Australian Entomological Society in a conference at Hobart in 2012. Since 1979 many members have acted in administrative roles with no formal structure in place. In 1996 Volker Framenau[3] took on the secretariat with assistance from other members, notably Cor Vink.[4] Dr Michael Rix took on the role of newsletter editor in November 2009, with Volker Framenau staying on as administrator.[5] In 2009 Robert Whyte[6] and Helen Smith[7] took on the responsibility of administration and newsletter, Australasian Arachnology, which has been regularly published since 1979.[8] Membership fees entitles members to a number of issues of the newsletter which is delivered as a PDF. Membership is not time based.[9]