Benoy Krishna Tikader (1928–1994) was an Indian

arachnologist Arachnology is the scientific study of arachnids, which comprise spiders and related invertebrates such as scorpions, pseudoscorpions, harvestmen, ticks, and mites. Those who study spiders and other arachnids are arachnologists. More narrowly ...

and

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

and a leading expert on Indian

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

s in his time. He worked in the

Zoological Survey of India The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), founded on 1 July 1916 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Government of India as a premier Indian organisation in zoological research and studies to promote the survey, explora ...

and published the ''Handbook of Indian Spiders'' in 1987. The book describes 40

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

and 1066

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of India, many of which were described by Tikader himself. The handbook is a guide to all arachnids including

scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...

s, and not just spiders. He was also a popular scientific author in his native language of

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

, and was the author of ''Banglar Makorsha'' (literally: "Bengal's spiders") for the layman.

Focus on eastern India

Working in the Zoological Survey of India based in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

, Tikader was especially interested in the spiders of eastern India and the

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India comprising 572 islands, of which only 38 are inhabited. The islands are grouped into two main clusters: the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands, separated by a ...

. Many new species names chosen by him thus bear names of places in eastern India or the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. For e.g., ''andamanensis'' (from the Andaman Islands), ''bengalensis'' (from

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

), and ''dhakuriensis'' (from

Dhakuria Dhakuria is a locality of South Kolkata in Kolkata district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in the southern part of the city and is surrounded by Ballygunge and Kasba in the north, Haltu in the east, Jadavpur/ Garia in the ...

, in

Honours

He held PhD and DSc degrees from Calcutta University.Bose, Anjali (editor), 1996/2004, ''Sansad Bangali Charitabhidhan'' (Biographical dictionary) Vol II, , p217, A number of species were named after him by his colleagues: Fish: # ''

Nemacheilus ''Nemacheilus'' is a genus of stone loaches native to Asia. Species These are the currently recognized species in this genus: * '' Nemacheilus anguilla'' Annandale, 1919 (eel loach) * '' Nemacheilus arenicolus'' Kottelat, 1998 * '' Nemache ...

tikaderi'' (originally '' Aborichthys tikaderi'' ) of the family

Balitoridae Balitoridae, the hillstream loaches or river loaches, is a family, of small fish from South, Southeast and East Asia. The family includes about 202 species. They are sometimes sold as "lizardfish" or (in Germany) "flossensaugers". Many of the spe ...

(Barman, 1985) Spiders: #'' Nodocion tikaderi'' of the family Gnaphosidae (Gajbe, 1992) #'' Eilica tikaderi'' of the family

Gnaphosidae Ground spiders comprise Gnaphosidae, the seventh largest spider family with over 2,000 described species in over 100 genera distributed worldwide. There are 105 species known to central Europe, and common genera include '' Gnaphosa'', '' Drassode ...

(Platnick, 1976) #''

Drassodes ''Drassodes'' is a genus of ground spiders that was first described by Niklas Westring in 1851. They are brown, gray, and red spiders that live under rocks or bark in mostly dry habitats, and are generally long, but can reach up to in length. ...

tikaderi'' (Gajbe, 1987) #'' Poecilochroa tikaderi'' of the family Gnaphosidae (Patel, 1989) #'' Petrotricha tikaderi'' of the family Gnaphosidae (Gajbe, 1983) #'' Scopoides tikaderi'' of the family Gnaphosidae (Gajbe, 1987) #''

Mimetus ''Mimetus'' is a genus of pirate spiders in the family Mimetidae. They are found worldwide. Description Members of this genus resemble the comb-footed spiders, Theridiidae, due to their globular abdomen. The upper side of this bears curved bris ...

tikaderi'' of the family

Mimetidae Pirate spiders, members of the family Mimetidae, are araneomorph spiders which typically feed on other spiders. The family Mimetidae contains roughly 200 species divided among 12 genera, of which ''Mimetus'' and '' Ero'' are the most common. Mi ...

(Gajbe, 1992) #''

Marpissa ''Marpissa'' is a genus of jumping spiders that was first described by Carl Ludwig Koch in 1846. Species it contains forty-one species, found in North America, South America, Africa, Europe, Asia, on the Polynesian Islands, and the Greater Anti ...

tikaderi'' (Biswas, 1984) #'' Chorizopes tikaderi'' of the family

Araneidae Orb-weaver spiders are members of the spider family Araneidae. They are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields, and forests. The English word "orb" can mean "circular", hence the English name ...

(Sadana & Kaur, 1974) #''

Olios ''Olios'' is the largest genus of huntsman spiders, containing 166 species. They are found throughout the world, with most species occurring in hot countries. The genus was first described by Charles Athanase Walckenaer in 1837. Description Th ...

tikaderi'' of the family

Sparassidae Huntsman spiders, members of the family Sparassidae (formerly Heteropodidae), catch their prey by hunting rather than in webs. They are also called giant crab spiders because of their size and appearance. Larger species sometimes are referred to ...

(Kundu, Biswas & Raychaudhuri, 1999) #''

Clubiona ''Clubiona'' is a genus of sac spiders that was first described by Pierre André Latreille in 1804. Species the genus contains 493 species and seven subspecies. These species and subspecies are found in Oceania, Africa, North America, the Carib ...

tikaderi'' of the family

Clubionidae The sac spiders of the family Clubionidae are nocturnal, sac-building hunting spiders with a near-worldwide distribution. Their sacs, silken retreats in which they hide during the day, may be made in a variety of places, including between folded ...

(Majumder & Tikader, 1991) #''

Pardosa ''Pardosa'' is a large genus of wolf spiders, commonly known as the thin-legged wolf spiders. It was first described by C. L. Koch, in 1847, with more than 500 described species that are found in all regions of the world. Description They ar ...

tikaderi'' of the family

Lycosidae Wolf spiders are members of the Family (biology), family Lycosidae (), named for their robust and agile hunting skills and excellent eyesight. They live mostly in solitude, hunt alone, and usually do not spin spider web, webs. Some are opportunis ...

(Arora & Monga, 1994) #''

Oxyopes ''Oxyopes'' is a genus of lynx spiders found worldwide. It includes arounds 300 species and is classified under the lynx spider family Oxyopidae. Like other lynx spiders, they are easily recognizable by the six larger eyes arranged hexagonally ...

tikaderi'' of the family

Oxyopidae Lynx spiders (Oxyopidae) is a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1870. Most species make little use of webs, instead spending their lives as hunting spiders on plants. Many species frequent flowers in particular, ...

(Biswas & Majumder, 1995) #''

Theridion ''Theridion'' is a genus of tangle-web spiders with a worldwide distribution. Notable species are the Hawaiian happy face spider (''T. grallator''), named for the iconic symbol on its abdomen, and '' T. nigroannulatum'', one of few sp ...

tikaderi'' (Patel, 1973) #'' Pistius tikaderi'' (Kumari & Mittal, 1999) #''

Xysticus ''Xysticus'' is a genus of ground crab spiders described by C. L. Koch in 1835, belonging to the order Araneae, family Thomisidae. The genus name is derived from the Ancient Greek root ''xyst'', meaning "scraped, scraper". Description ''Xysticu ...

tikaderi'' (Bhandari & Gajbe, 2001) #'' Storena tikaderi'' of the family

Zodariidae Ant spiders are members of the family Zodariidae. They are small to medium-sized eight-eyed spiders found in all tropical and subtropical regions of South America, Africa, Madagascar, Australia-New Guinea, New Zealand, Arabia, and the Indian su ...

(Patel & Reddy, 1989)

Important publications

*Tikader B K (1982), Fauna of India: Arachnid Vol 2: Spiders, Zoological Survey of India *Tikader B K (1983), Threatened Animals of India, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta *Tikader B K and Bastwade D (1983), Fauna of India: Arachnid Vol 3: Scorpions, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, India. *Tikader B K (1987
Handbook of Indian Spiders
Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, India. * Tikader B K and RC Sharma (December 1985), Handbook of Indian Testudines, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, India * Tikader B K and Ramakrishna (December 1988), Role of Spinning Apparatus in Non-Orb-Weaving and Orb-Weaving Spiders from India, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, India. * Tikader B K and Animesh Bal (January 1981), Studies on Some Orb-Weaving Spiders of the Genera Neoscona Simon and Araneus Clerck of the Family Araneidae from India, Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, India

Personal life

He was married to Mridula Tikader. They have a daughter, Sujata Mazumdar, and two sons Shyamal Tikader and Sajal Tikader.

References

External links

Scanned publications by Tikader
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tikader, B.K. Indian entomologists Indian naturalists 1928 births 1994 deaths Arachnologists University of Calcutta alumni 20th-century Indian zoologists 20th-century naturalists