A recognized authority on spiders, Rainer F. Foelix studied Biology in both Germany and Switzerland, and obtained his PhD in Zoology. His spider research started in Peter Witt's lab in Raleigh, NC, and focused on the sensory organs of orb web spiders. His studies were later expanded to other arachnid orders (ticks, scorpions, whip spiders) and to insects and selected veretebrates.