Our Scientist in Slovenia

Professor Jason Bond of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology is completing a project at the National Institute of Biology (NIB), Slovenia, as part of his Fulbright Specialist Program award.

Professor Bond, who is the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology's Evert and Marion Schlinger Endowed Chair of Insect Systematics, and director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology, and executive associate dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, is sharing his latest research on trapdoor spiders with NIB.

Bond delivered a presentation on Sept. 4 on "Genomic Perspectives on Mygalomorph Spider Systematics and Evolution" for  NIB's “Ecology and Evolution Doctoral Seminar Series 2025/2026."  

The Mygalomorphae, or mygalomorphs, are an infraorder of spiders, and comprise one of three major groups of living spiders with more than 3,000 species. They are found on all continents except Antarctica. Many members of the infraorder are  trapdoor spiders, so named because they construct wafer-like, silk-and-soil trap doors over their burrows.  When a trapdoor spider detects the vibration of a prey, it springs out, grabs it, and drags it into its burrow.

In his abstract, Bond wrote: "The infraorder Mygalomorphae is one of the three main lineages of spiders comprising more than 3000 nominal species with a worldwide distribution that includes charismatic taxa such as tarantulas, trapdoor spiders, and highly venomous funnel-web spiders. The application of genomic data to long-standing taxonomic and phylogenetic challenges has been instrumental to resolving questions related to venom evolution, silk production and use, biogeography, adaptation to extreme environments, cryptic diversity and species delimitation, and evolution of life history traits."

Bond discussed a number of recent phylogenomic studies which have made "significant progress in resolving relationships and establishing a newly revised familial level classification, as well as presenting new data employing Ultra Conserved Elements (UCEs) with expanded taxon sampling." However, despite major progress made over the last decade, key knowledge gaps remain, he told the crowd.

One of his topics was a new genus and species of trapdoor spider, Cryptocteniza kawtak, that he discovered in an isolated area of Moss Landing State Beach, Monterey County, California. "Cryptocteniza" combines two Greek words meaning “hidden or secret” (it was long undetected) and “comb” (referring to its comb-like spines near their jaws for digging). "Kawtak" means “seashore” in the language of Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, who originally lived on the lands near the spider’s habitat.  

The trapdoor spider apparently lived more than 100 million years ago, and then died out except for the "ecologically stranded area" of Moss Landing State Beach.

Modern Biodiversity Detection

On Tuesday, Sept. 16, Professor Bond and NIB Professor Matjaž Kuntner will lead the "Modern Biodiversity Detection" presentation, comprised of a panel of international scientists discussing the modern approaches used to detect, describe, and preserve biodiversity.  The panel includes NIB faculty members Denis Kutnjak, Nataša Mori, David Stanković, Timotej Turk Dermastia, and Al Vrezec, along with Professor Carolyn Malmstrom of Michigan State University and Hans Rewcknagel of the University of Ljubljana faculty.

NIB, established in 1960, is the third largest public research institute in natural sciences in Slovenia. It is known for its work the fields of general biology, plant physiology, organismal biology, ecology, and environmental protection biomedicine and biotechnology.

Fulbright Specialist Program

Bond is one of more than 400 U.S. citizens who share expertise with host institutions abroad through the Fulbright Specialist Program. Recipients of Fulbright Specialist awards are selected on the basis of academic and professional achievement, demonstrated leadership in their field, and their potential to foster long-term cooperation between institutions in the U.S. and abroad.

The program aims to exchange knowledge and establish partnerships benefiting participants, institutions, and communities both in the U.S. and overseas, through a variety of educational and training activities within environmental science.

The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government and is designed to build lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The Fulbright Program is funded through an annual appropriation made by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State.