Barbara York Main

Barbara York Main
Main in the North Bungulla Nature Reserve, Western Australia, 2015
Born(1929-01-27)27 January 1929
Kellerberrin, Western Australia
Died14 May 2019(2019-05-14) (aged 90)[2]
NationalityAustralian
EducationPhD, zoology, University of Western Australia, 1956
Known forStudy of arachnids
SpouseBert Main (m. 1952–2009)
Children3
AwardsMedal of the Order of Australia[1]
Scientific career
FieldsArachnology
InstitutionsUniversity of Western Australia
Thesis A comparative study of the evolution of the Araneae as illustrated by the biology of the Aganippini (Mygalomorphae: Ctenizidae)

Barbara Anne York Main OAM (27 January 1929 – 14 May 2019)[3] was an Australian arachnologist and adjunct professor at the University of Western Australia.[4][5] The author of four books and over 90 research papers,[6] Main is recognised for her prolific work in establishing taxonomy for arachnids, personally describing 34 species and seven new genera.[7] The BBC and ABC produced a film about her work, Lady of the Spiders, in 1981.[8][9]

With research interests that include the natural history and taxonomy of mygalomorph spiders, Main is noted for having studied the oldest known spider, a Gaius villosus trapdoor spider she named "Number 16", from its birth in 1974 to its death in 2016.[10][4][11]

Main is also recognised for her writing about the environment. Two of her books, Between Wodjil and Tor (1967) and Twice Trodden Ground (1971), have been described as "classic studies" of the cost to the environment of developing the wheatbelt in Western Australia.[12] Main remained active in the research community until she retired in 2017 at the age of 88.[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference medal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "MAIN (Dr Barbara Anne York OAM ): 27.1.1929 - 14.5.2019" The West Australian, 16 May 2019. Accessed 23 May 2019.
  3. ^ Ann Jones (2019) "Barbara York Main, Australia's spider woman and Wheatbelt advocate, author and poet dies" Off Track, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Published May 23, 2019. Accessed May 23, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c Selk, Avi (1 May 2018). "The extraordinary life and death of the world’s oldest known spider". The Washington Post.
  5. ^ "Adj/Prof Barbara York Main", The University of Western Australia.
  6. ^ "UWA people named in Australia Day Honours" Archived 11 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine, University of Western Australia, 20 January 2011.
  7. ^ Williams, Robyn (15 September 2013). "Barbara York Main: Spider Woman". Ockham's Razor. ABC Radio National. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  8. ^ "Lady of the Spiders (1981)". British Film Institute.
  9. ^ Hodgkin, Ernest P. (1995). "Barbara York Main", Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement. 52 (pp. vii–xv), p. xi.
  10. ^ Burdick, Alan (5 May 2018). "Elegy for the World’s Oldest Spider", The New Yorker.
  11. ^ Mason, Leanda Denise; Wardell-Johnson, Grant; and Main, Barbara York. (2018). "The longest-lived spider: mygalomorphs dig deep, and persevere". Pacific Conservation Biology, 24(2), pp. 203–206.
  12. ^ Hughes-d'Aeth, Tony (2017). "Barbara York Main (1929–)", Like Nothing on This Earth: A Literary History of the Wheatbelt. Crawley: UWA Publishing (pp. 381–432), p. 383.