Günter Schmidt (arachnologist)

For the sexologist, psychotherapist, and social psychologist, see Gunter Schmidt.

Günter E. W. Schmidt
Born(1926-05-10)10 May 1926
Lübeck
Died23 December 2016(2016-12-23) (aged 90)
Deutsch Evern
NationalityGerman
Scientific career
FieldsArachnology

Günter E. W. Schmidt (born 10 May 1926 in Lübeck; died 23 December 2016 in Deutsch Evern)[1] was a German arachnologist and author of a standard German work on tarantulas, Die Vogelspinnen ("bird-eating spiders"). He has been described as one of the fathers of German arachnology.[2]

He studied biology and mostly worked in the pharmaceutical industry until his retirement.[3] In 1975, he graduated with a PhD thesis on the arachnid fauna of the Canary Islands [3]. From 1986, his scientific work was concentrated mainly on tarantulas. The World Spider Catalog lists 234 species names of which he is the author or co-author (not all currently accepted),[4] of which 69 are in the family Theraphosidae (tarantulas).[5]

Books

His books include:

  • Schmidt, Günter (1986), Vogelspinnen : Lebensweise, Bestimmungsschlüssel, Haltung und Zucht, Minden: A. Philler, ISBN 978-3-7907-5001-0; followed by further editions, including Schmidt, Günter (1993), Vogelspinnen : Vorkommen, Lebensweise, Haltung und Zucht, mit Bestimmungsschlüsseln für alle Gattungen, Hannover: Landbuch, ISBN 978-3-7842-0484-0
  • Schmidt, Günter (2000), Giftige und gefährliche Spinnentiere, Westarp Wissenschaften, ISBN 978-3-89432-405-6
  • Schmidt, G. (2003), Die Vogelspinnen: Eine weltweite Übersicht, Neue Brehm-Bücherei, Hohenwarsleben: Westarp Wissenschaften, ISBN 978-3-89432-899-3

Species names

Several species names of spiders honour Günter Schmidt, including:

References
  1. "Traueranzeige Günter Schmidt", Lüneburger Landeszeitung (in German), 2016-12-24, retrieved 2017-03-17
  2. Peters, H.-J. (2006), "Dr. Günter Schmidt – der älteste noch immer aktive Spinnenforscher der Alten Welt", Tarantulas of the World (in German), 11 (117), ISSN 1431-7990
  3. Obituary for Günther Schmidt by John Osmani
  4. "Search for author 'Schmidt'", World Spider Catalog, Natural History Museum Bern, retrieved 2021-04-21
  5. "Search for family 'Theraphosidae' and author 'Schmidt'", World Spider Catalog, Natural History Museum Bern, retrieved 2021-04-21
  6. von Wirth, V. (1991), "Eine neue Vogelspinnenart aus Vietnam Haplopelma schmidti sp. n. (Araneae: Theraphosidae: Ornithoctoninae)", Arachnologischer Anzeiger, 18: 6–11
  7. Smith, Andrew M. (1995), Tarantula Spiders: Tarantulas of the U.S.A. and Mexico, London: Fitzgerald Publishing, ISBN 0951093991
  8. Rudloff, J.-P. (1996), "Cyrtopholis schmidti sp. n., eine neue Cyrtopholis-Art aus Brasilien (Araneida: Theraphosidae: Theraphosinae)", Arachnologisches Magazin, 4 (5): 2–8
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