Tentative Programme

ICA 2026 Tentative Programme 15–21 November 2026

15–21 November 2026

A week of discovery, exchange and connection

The following programme is tentative and may be updated. Browse each congress day for plenaries, technical sessions, symposia, excursions and social events.

Host cityKochi, Kerala, India
15

Sunday, 15 November 2026

Arrival, Registration & Welcome Reception

All day

Delegate Arrival & Registration

Delegate arrival and conference kit distribution.

Evening

Welcome Reception

A warm opening gathering for all delegates.

16

Monday, 16 November 2026

Congress Day 1

Morning

Inaugural Ceremony

Plenary Lecture — Charles Haddad
Darkest Africa? Shining light on the spider biodiversity of the world’s most understudied continent

Parallel Technical Sessions

Systematics, Taxonomy & MorphologyEcology & Community InteractionsConservation & Biodiversity
Afternoon

Young Arachnologists Plenary – I

Kiran Marathe - University of British Columbia, Canada

Phylogenomics of plexippine jumping spiders (Salticinae, Plexippini, Plexippina)

Parallel Technical Sessions

BehaviourEvolution & BiogeographyPoster Presentations I
Symposium 1

How to make Arachnology collections data accessible for research?

Evening

Russian Party

17

Tuesday, 17 November 2026

Congress Day 2

Morning

Plenary Lectures

Jutta M. Schneider
Dangerous liaisons: causes and consequences of monogynous mating systems
Rodrigo Hirata Willemart
The sensory biology of Opiliones, with a comparison with other arachnids

Parallel Technical Sessions

Genetics & Molecular BiologyEcology & Community InteractionsMedical & Applied Arachnology
Afternoon

Young Arachnologists Plenary – II

Rina Morisawa - Kyoto University, Japan

Phylogeography of the Japanese endemic mite harvester species Suzukielus sauteri (Roewer, 1916)

Parallel Technical Sessions

BehaviourPhysiology & Functional BiologyPoster Presentations II

Congress Photo

Symposium 2

Spatial Orientation in Arachnids: from Mechanisms to Behaviour

Evening

Arachno Olympics & Games Night

18

Wednesday, 18 November 2026

Congress Day 3 – Mid-Congress Excursion

Full day

Official Excursions

Delegates may choose among officially organised excursions including:

Western Ghats Biodiversity ExcursionKerala Backwaters Experience
Evening

Informal Networking & Free Evening

19

Thursday, 19 November 2026

Congress Day 4

Morning

Plenary Lectures

Siddharth Kulkarni
Ancient gene linkages and ultraconserved elements disentangle recalcitrant branches in Arachnida
Suresh Benjamin
Chance, Curiosity, and Spiders: Revealing Hidden Diversity in a Tropical Mountain Hotspot

Parallel Technical Sessions

Venom, Silk & Functional MaterialsConservation & BiodiversityEmerging Technologies & Modelling
Afternoon

Young Arachnologists Plenary – III

Mariela Oviedo-Diego - Smithsonian Institution, USA

Ecological and functional divergence in sympatry reveals early trait diversification in Malagasy Pelican Spiders

Parallel Technical Sessions

Systematics & TaxonomyFunctional MorphologyPoster Presentations III
Symposium 3

Parasitoids and Parasites of Arachnids: Hidden Players in Terrestrial Food Webs

Evening

Congress Dinner & Cultural Programme

20

Friday, 20 November 2026

Congress Day 5

Morning

Plenary Lecture

Xin Xu
Living fossils revisited: Systematics and biogeography of the primitively segmented spiders

Parallel Technical Sessions

Student Oral CompetitionEvolution & BiogeographyGenetics & Molecular Biology
Afternoon

Young Arachnologists Plenary – IV

Morena Nava - University of Barcelona, Spain

From hidden retreats to phylogenetic trees: resolving the evolutionary history and systematics of Iberian red devil Dysdera spiders (Araneae, Dysderidae)

Parallel Technical Sessions

Student Poster CompetitionEmerging Technologies & Modelling
Symposium 4

Arachnid Systematics of the Oriental and Indo-Pacific Regions

ISA General Assembly

Evening

Informal Networking & Free Evening

21

Saturday, 21 November 2026

Congress Day 6 – Valedictory & Departure

Morning

Young Arachnologists Plenary – V

Kyung-Hoon Jeong - University of Hamburg, Germany

Population Genomic Study of East Asian Sea Pseudoscorpions (Anchigarypus japonicus (Beier, 1952)), Using Whole Genome Sequencing Approach

Morning Parallel Technical Sessions

Valedictory Ceremony

  • Congress Resolutions
  • Future ICA Announcements
  • Best Student Oral Presentation Award
  • Best Student Poster Award
  • Vote of Thanks
Departure

Delegate Departure

Optional post-congress tours.