When a researcher from the University of Maryland began running DNA tests on a group of spiders known as Pholcidae, a new species of the group was discovered.
The Hadrobunus milleri, a new species of what is commonly called daddy long legs, was named after Pat Miller, biology instructor at Northwest who discovered it in Southern Missouri in 1982.
Miller explained that she found the daddy long legs while vacationing in Southern Missouri while collecting various other specimens; whereas she has kept it in her collection for 26 years, not yet knowing that it was a new species.
According to Miller, last year, she became involved in collecting specimens for Dr. Jeffrey Schultz at the University of Maryland who was running DNA tests on daddy long legs. After sending a specimen from her personal collection to Schultz, he recognized it as a new species and the oldest of its kind and it may have been the first to evolve. He named it the Hadrobunus milleri.
“It was nice that Dr. Schultz said that he was going to name it after me,” said Miller. “I was very flattered and excited.”
She further mentioned how Schultz found among her collection a female of a rare species of spider in which the females are unknown. It was found in the same area where she found the Hadrobunus milleri. According to Miller, Schultz explained how in the South, there are many species that are yet to be discovered.
“I think so many biologists get hooked into having to have a purpose for what they do their research on, it’s got to make a big impact,” she said. “Some of us do research for research sake, just to know what’s out there."
“I love getting out and looking at things,” said Miller. “I think nature is just a marvel and that’s what I enjoy about biology, whether it advances me or not.”
Miller earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Tennessee and went on to earn a master’s at Mississippi State University, during which time she worked with endangered woodpeckers, she explained. At her first job, she worked for William H. Cross, a naturalist, as curator for an insect collection, after which she became a teacher. “Being a biologist is just sort of my life,” said Miller.
“My earliest recollection of being involved with or interested in nature was in the seventh grade, I had to do a leaf collection,” she said. “I still have that leaf collection and I’ve always remembered the names of the leaves and trees.”
Miller, who has taught at Northwest for 19 years, resides in Abbeville. |
