Araniella opisthographa
| Araniella opisthographa | ||||||||||||
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Araniella opisthographa , male |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Araniella opisthographa | ||||||||||||
| ( Kulczyński , 1905) |
Araniella opisthographa is a species of spider from the family of the true orb-web spiders (Araneidae). The species is widespread and relatively common in Central Europe.
features
The females reach a body length of 4.5–8.5 mm, the males 3.5–4.5 mm. In the female, the front body ( prosoma ) and legs are monochrome beige-brown. The abdomen ( opisthosoma ) is shiny yellowish-green on top and there are four to five black, small depressions on both sides of the midline. The adult animals have a red spot on the end of the abdomen above the spinneret.
Males are clearly more contrasting in color. The beige-brown prosoma usually has a broad, dark border, the legs are broadly red and black ringed on a beige background and also have strong bristles.
Araniella opisthographa can only be distinguished genitally morphologically from the extremely similar pumpkin spider, which also occurs in Central Europe .
distribution and habitat
The distribution area of A. opisthographa is essentially limited to the southwestern Palearctic and extends in east-west direction from Ireland and Portugal to west Siberia and in north-south direction from Scandinavia to Israel and further east to south to the Northern Afghanistan . The distribution area includes the temperate to Mediterranean zone. The species is absent in Europe in the east in parts of the Baltic States , in Belarus and in Romania . The species is widespread in Germany.
In Central Europe, the species lives in moderately dry to dry deciduous and coniferous forests and their edges and occurs both in the herbaceous layer and in the crowns of shrubs and trees.
Way of life
The nets have a diameter of about ten centimeters and are laid diagonally to horizontally, usually at a height of about three meters. The females usually sit in the middle of the net. The adult males look for nets of female animals and wait there until the female is ready to mate.
Danger
The species is widespread and medium abundant in suitable habitats. In Germany it is classified as "safe" in the Red List .
literature
- Ralph Platen, Bodo von Broen, Andreas Herrmann, Ulrich M. Ratschker, Peter Sacher: Total species list and red list of spiders, harvestmen and pseudoscorpions of the state of Brandenburg (Arachnida: Araneae, Opiliones, Pseudoscorpiones) with information on frequency and ecology. Nature conservation and landscape management in Brandenburg 8, booklet 2 (supplement); 1999.
Web links
Araniella opisthographa in the World Spider Catalog
- W. Nentwig, A. Hänggi, C. Kropf & T. Blick (Eds.): Spinnen Mitteleuropas - Identification key, genus Araniella. on-line