Editorial
Luis F. de Armas is a world-renowned arachnologist, but also an experienced herpetologist, entomologist, carcinologist, and myriapodologist (e.g., Fig. 2). One may wonder how a colleague can be an indefatigable polymath during the era of academic ‘specialisation’ The answer to this can be found by asking any researcher who knows and works with Luis. His encyclopaedic knowledge of the natural world has been an ever-present force in his life and has been coupled with his admirable work ethic and, above all, his love of collaborating with other people. Through his knowledge and collaborative spirit, he has achieved what many of us have not, a career surpassing now half a century which has produced a consistent flow of more than 500 publications (Pérez-González et al. 2025). The number continues to rise, as Luis remains active in research into his eighth decade. We can only hope this rings true for many years to come.
Contributions to arachnology
Luis F. de Armas (b. 1945) is one of Latin America’s most esteemed arachnologists. Best known is his work on the
scorpions of Latin America, especially those of the Caribbean and Mesoamerica. However, particularly on, but not
restricted to, Cuba and the Dominican Republic he has advanced many publications on amblypygids, schizomids,
solifugids, thelyphonids, and ricenulids. It is unsurprising given arachnids are Luis’ expertise that within these
groups he was focused not only on taxonomy but also ecology, teratology, conservation, zoogeography, and several
other fields.
Sherwood, Danniella. (2025). Hombre del renacimiento: the contributions of Luis F. de Armas to arachnology, herpetology, entomology, carcinology, and myriapodology. Zootaxa. 5563. 42-59. 10.11646/zootaxa.5563.1.5.Â
