Barbara Anne York Main OAM (27 January 1929 – 14 May 2019)[3] was an Australian arachnologist and adjunct professor at the University of Western Australia.

[4][5] The author of four books and over 90 research papers,[6] Main is recognised for her prolific work in establishing taxonomy for arachnids, personally describing 34 species and seven new genera.

Two of her books, Between Wodjil and Tor (1967) and Twice Trodden Ground (1971), have been described as "classic studies" of the cost to the environment of developing the wheatbelt in Western Australia.

Her mother was born in Coolgardie and had worked as one of two teachers in a school in Yorkrakine, and her father was a farmer who had emigrated in 1909 from Yorkshire in England.

[13] Main's early life was spent in what Australians know as "Wodjil country", areas of the wheatbelt region of Western Australia known for its acidic sand, surrounded by Acacia victoriae, sheoak plants and York gum trees.

[15] She later attended Northam High School on a scholarship, boarding with a woman who looked after other students,[16] then from 1947 the University of Western Australia (UWA) to study science, with a major in zoology.

[19][17] She stayed at home to look after the children, while also working on various research projects, which included writing her first two books, Spiders of Australia (1962) and Between Wodjil and Tor (1967).