Spider Webs as Efficient Passive Samplers for Airborne Fungal eDNA
Researchers have used spider webs as passive environmental DNA (eDNA) samplers for detecting the pathogenic fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, the causal agent of ash dieback.
Spider Webs as Efficient Passive Samplers for Airborne Fungal eDNA in Forests: A Case Study With Hymenoscyphus fraxineus. (2026) Environmental DNA, 8(3), e70315. https://doi.org/10.1002/edn3.70315Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
There are two good things about this paper. First is a nice clear definition of the term "dark taxa" - hyperdiverse species-rich groups of small, inconspicuous organisms that remain undescribed and difficult to delimit using morphology alone.
The second is a highly sensible proposal. I've played a little with the BOLD DNA database and it suffers from one big problem - some of the original species identifications are dodgy, hence the results get fuzzy. If all new species description had to include a DNA barcode, we could start to unpick the dark taxa, something we're never going to be able to do with morphology alone.
The second is a highly sensible proposal. I've played a little with the BOLD DNA database and it suffers from one big problem - some of the original species identifications are dodgy, hence the results get fuzzy. If all new species description had to include a DNA barcode, we could start to unpick the dark taxa, something we're never going to be able to do with morphology alone.
Toward scalable species descriptions for dark taxa: the role of molecular data. ZooKeys 1283 (2026): 297. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1283.172693
