Glavis Bernard Edwards Jr. (born 1948) is an American

taxonomic Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

entomologist specializing primarily in

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

s, with broader interests in

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

centipede Centipedes (from New Latin , "hundred", and Latin , " foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', lip, and New Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, an ...

s, millipedes, and

thrips Thrips ( order Thysanoptera) are minute (mostly long or less), slender insects with fringed wings and unique asymmetrical mouthparts. Different thrips species feed mostly on plants by puncturing and sucking up the contents, although a few are ...

. He was the

Curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

Arachnida Arachnida () is a class of joint-legged invertebrate animals (arthropods), in the subphylum Chelicerata. Arachnida includes, among others, spiders, scorpions, ticks, mites, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, camel spiders, whip spiders and vinegaroon ...

and Myriapoda for the Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA), Division of Plant Industry,

Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) is an executive department of the government of Florida. The Commissioner of Agriculture (directly elected by voters statewide for a four-year term, and a member of the Florida ...

. His curatorial responsibilities included Arachnida (except

Acari Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear evid ...

): spiders,

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

s, harvestmen, and relatives;

Crustacea Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean gro ...

( terrestrial species only):

pillbugs Armadillidiidae is a family of woodlice, a terrestrial crustacean group in the order Isopoda. Unlike members of some other woodlice families, members of this family can roll into a ball, an ability they share with the outwardly similar but unr ...

, sowbugs; Myriapoda including centipedes, millipedes, and symphylans; Onychophora; and Thysanoptera. He has authored more than 100

scientific publications : ''For a broader class of literature, see Academic publishing.'' Scientific literature comprises scholarly publications that report original empirical and theoretical work in the natural and social sciences. Within an academic field, scient ...

in his fields of research. He retired in August, 2015, after over 38 years of state service. He became a Curator Emeritus at the FSCA and continues his research on jumping spiders.

Early life

Glavis Bernard (G. B.) Edwards Jr. was born in Aberdeen, Maryland on November 24, 1948. In his teen years, he became interested in the behavior of spiders, especially jumping spiders, which were usually victorious when pitted against other spiders of similar size. He graduated from Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, where he was well known for his interest in "bugs."

Education

Edwards earned his Bachelor of Science degree in

Entomology Entomology () is the science, scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such ...

from the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

in 1971. While in

undergraduate school Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, in the United States, an entry-lev ...

, he worked in the Entomology Department as a part-time curator of the arachnid collection developed by Martin H. Muma, which provided him his first opportunity to examine many kinds of identified spiders. He also developed an interest in the use of spiders for biological control. During his undergraduate years, Edwards learned that a professor doing research on the use of spiders for biological control, Dr. Willard H. Whitcomb, was at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

. After graduation, he took a graduate assistantship at the

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, and completed the Master of Science degree in

(1975) studying the life history of '' Phidippus regius'' while working on spiders in

soybean The soybean, soy bean, or soya bean (''Glycine max'') is a species of legume native to East Asia, widely grown for its edible bean, which has numerous uses. Traditional unfermented food uses of soybeans include soy milk, from which tofu an ...

s. He later obtained the Doctor of Philosophy degree in

(1980) conducting research on the life history,

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

mimicry In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. Often, mimicry f ...

, predatory behavior,

courtship behavior A courtship display is a set of display behaviors in which an animal, usually a male, attempts to attract a mate; the mate Mate choice, exercises choice, so sexual selection acts on the display. These behaviors often include ritualized movement ( ...

, and

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

of the jumping spider genus '' Phidippus''.

Research and professional affiliations

Edwards' early research interests focused on the use of spiders as biocontrol agents, and the behavior,

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

biogeography Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

, ecology, and

systematics Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of living forms, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees (synonyms: cladograms, phylogenetic tre ...

of the spider

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Salticidae, the jumping spiders. His later research focused mainly on the

of jumping spiders. His professional activities and affiliations include charter member and membership secretary of the Peckham Society and editor of its publication, '' Peckhamia''; editorial board member of the American Tarantula Society; charter member, Director, and chair of the Committee on Common Names,

American Arachnological Society The American Arachnological Society (AAS) is a scientific organization founded in 1972 in order to promote the study of arachnids by seeking to achieve closer cooperation and understanding between amateur and professional arachnologists along with ...

; Secretary and President,

Center for Systematic Entomology Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

; and Courtesy Assistant Professor, Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of Florida.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, G. B. Living people 1948 births Arachnologists American arachnologists University of Maryland, College Park alumni University of Florida College of Agricultural and Life Sciences alumni People from Aberdeen, Maryland