Giraldo Alayón García, Cuba’s ‘spider man,’ died on Sept. 24

Giraldo Alayón García, who spent nearly four decades building Cuba's principal collection of arachnids at the National Museum of Natural History, died on September 24. Over his career he described roughly 95 species and genera, most endemic to Cuba, and published the 1994 species list still used as a reference today.

Beyond the lab, Alayón brought wildlife to the public through Radio Ariguanabo, Cuba's first environmental radio program, as well as television appearances and public lectures. He also led fieldwork abroad, including a 1999 expedition to Navassa Island that turned up a scorpion species later named in his honor, and later campaigned against the illegal wild bird trade in his hometown.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.