Wanda Wesołowska

Wanda Wesołowska (born 11 August 1950) is a Polish zoologist known for her work with jumping spiders. She has described more species of jumping spider than any contemporary writer, and is second only to Eugène Simon in the history of arachnology. Originally a student of ornithology, she developed an interest in jumping spiders while still a student at the Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities in the 1970s.

Wesołowska published her first work in 1981, which included the description of nine new species of spiders, the first in what would be a prolific career. She moved to the University of Wrocław to continue her studies, and completed her doctoral thesis that described 44 new species of the genus ''Heliophanus''. She joined the faculty of the University of Wrocław in 1985, received a habilitation in 2000, and remained a tenured professor at the university until her retirement in 2020.

Her research has focused on the description, taxonomy and zoogeography of jumping spiders, and has included extensive work on African genera like ''Menemerus'' and ''Pachyballus''. Wesołowska has identified more than 500 species, including half of all those from South Africa, and more than 20 species have been named after her. Provided by Wikipedia