A. F. Millidge

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Alfred Frank Millidge (1914 – 16 April 2012) was a British arachnologist who specialised in the spider family Linyphiidae. He co-authored the influential three-volume work British Spiders with G. H. Locket and conducted extensive taxonomic research on North American and South American linyphiid spiders.[1]

Career and research

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Millidge conducted research at the American Museum of Natural History, where he published numerous taxonomic studies on linyphiid spiders.[2] His work focused particularly on the subfamily Erigoninae, and he published a comprehensive series on the erigonine spiders of North America in the Journal of Arachnology between 1980 and 1987.[3]

His taxonomic work included detailed revisions of several genera, including studies of Walckenaeria, Eperigone, Spirembolus, and Disembolus.[3]

Millidge also worked extensively on South American linyphiid fauna. His 1985 study described numerous species from Chile and other South American regions,[2] and his 1991 monograph on South American linyphiids was published in the Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History.[4]

British Spiders

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Millidge co-authored the three-volume series British Spiders with G. H. Locket, with the first volume published in 1951 and the second in 1953.[1] A third volume was later published in 1974 with Peter Merrett as an additional co-author.[5]

British Arachnological Society

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Millidge was involved with the British Arachnological Society, which originated from spider identification courses that he and G. H. Locket conducted in the 1950s.[6] The society was formally established in 1958 and grew from the earlier Flatford Mill Spider Group.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b Roberts, Michael John (1985). The Spiders of Great Britain and Ireland. Colchester: Harley Books. pp. 11–14.
  2. ^ a b Millidge, A.F. (1985). "Some linyphiid spiders from South America (Araneae, Linyphiidae)". American Museum Novitates. 2836: 1–78.
  3. ^ a b "The World Spider Catalog". Retrieved 8 September 2025.
  4. ^ Millidge, A.F. (1991). "Further linyphiid spiders (Araneae) from South America". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 205: 1–199.
  5. ^ Locket, G.H.; Millidge, A.F.; Merrett, P. (1974). British Spiders, Volume III. London: Ray Society. p. 315.
  6. ^ a b Merrett, P. 2009. History of the British Arachnological Society and arachnology in Britain. Newsletter of the British Arachnological Society, 114: 1-3.