Triangular spider
| Triangular spider | ||||||||||||
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Triangular spider ( Hyptiotes paradoxus ), female |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Hyptiotes paradoxus | ||||||||||||
| ( CL Koch , 1834) |
The triangle spider or triangular spider ( Hyptiotes paradoxus ) is a kind of the genus of the triangular spider ( Hyptiotes ) within the family of uloboridae (Uloboridae). The species is tied to young stands of the Norway spruce . It is the only species of the genus Hyptiotes that occurs in Central Europe and is widespread and common here. The triangular spider is Spider of the Year 2009.
description
Males have a body length of about 4 mm, females reach 5-6 mm. The front body ( prosoma ) is approximately round when viewed from above and raised in the middle when viewed from the side, while the strong rear body ( opisthosoma ) is approximately triangular when viewed from the side. The overall color is very variable, yellowish, gray, reddish, brown or black, often with black spots.
A striking characteristic of the males are the enormously enlarged bulbs on the pedipalps , which are as large as the entire front body. In the male, the opisthosoma is more elongated than in the female, and there is no difference in color between the sexes.
distribution and habitat
The species colonizes the western and southern Palearctic from Ireland , the Canaries and Portugal east to central Siberia and east China . In a north-south direction, the area extends from Sweden and Norway to southern Greece. The distribution area includes the temperate to subtropical zone. It is found in all of Europe except Iceland and Finland .
The triangular spider is tied to young spruce stands in Central Europe . It lives there almost exclusively on the lower, dead branches of young trees up to 10 m high.
Way of life
The species is known for its strongly modified network of bicycles. This is triangular and only consists of three segments of a normal wheel network, i.e. 4 radial threads and the parallel catch threads applied in between. This net is attached to a solid base with the two outer points. At the intersection of the radial threads, these are combined and lengthened to form a signal thread, which the spider holds with its front pair of legs. The spider usually does not sit on a branch, but is connected to it by a short thread that has emerged from the spinnerets. If a prey flies into the web, the spider very quickly extends the thread at its rear end, so that the web collapses over the prey. Like all curling-wheel web spiders, the species has no poison glands, the prey animals are spun into an immobile package and then sucked out.
Sexually mature animals can be found from July to October. The flat egg cocoon is placed on a spruce branch.
Danger
The species is widespread and common in suitable habitats. In Germany it is classified as "safe" in the Red List .
Web links
Hyptiotes paradoxus in the World Spider Catalog
literature
- Heiko Bellmann : Cosmos Atlas Arachnids of Europe. = Arachnids of Europe. 3rd edition, special edition. Kosmos, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 3-440-10746-9 .
- 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. In: Nature conservation and landscape maintenance in Brandenburg. 8, issue 2 (supplement); 1999.
- Martin Kreuels (2008): The triangular spider - Hyptiotes paradoxus (Araneae: Uloboridae) spider of the year 2009 . Arachnological Notes, 36: 46-48. ( PDF )
Individual evidence
Water spider (2000) | Wasp spider (2001) | Listspider (2002) | Great trembling spider (2003) | Green House Spider (2004) | Zebra jumping spider (2005) | Crab Spider (2006) | Common wolf spider (2007) | Angle spider (2008) | Triangular spider (2009) | Garden spider (2010) | Common Labyrinth Spider (2011) | Cave Wheel Web Spider (2012) | Common wallpaper spider (2013) | Common canopy spider (2014) | Vierfleck-Zartspinne (2015) | Cone spider (2016) | Crevasse spider (2017) | Fat Spider (2018) | Ant jumping spider (2019) | Edged hunting spider (2020)