Common black spider
| Common black spider | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Black flat-bellied spider ( Zelotes subterraneus ), female |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Zelotes subterraneus | ||||||||||||
| ( CL Koch , 1833) |
The common or common black spider ( Zelotes subterraneus ), also known as the black smooth or flat-bellied spider , is a spider from the family of flat-bellied spiders (Gnaphosidae). It is one of the common smooth-bellied spiders in Central Europe.
features
The female of the common black spider reaches a body length of six to nine millimeters, the male one of five and a half to eight millimeters. Like all of the genus, the species gets its German trivial name from the black-brown to completely black basic color that extends over the entire body, only the tarsi are lightened. In addition, the femurs of the first pair of legs have a light spot on the inside. The tibias of the first and second pair of legs have different from the rest of the legs do not have spines. The epigyne of the female has, like almost all species of the group of species, an almost heart-shaped furrow that is lugged in the middle. The male pedipalp is characterized by a straight apophysis of the tibia and a marginal elevation of the keel on the inside of the bulb. Illustrations of the genital morphology can be found at Spiders of Europe.
Similar species
The common black spider looks very similar to the other species of the genus of black spiders ( Zelotes ), but also representatives of the genera Trachyzelotes and Drassyllus from the same family. Since all species of the genus Zelotes have the same basic coloration, most of the species can only be distinguished from one another by genital morphological features; a few species can be differentiated by distal, lightened leg links. This species can only be determined genitally morphologically.
Occurrence
The common black spider is common in Europe, east across Asia Minor, the Caucasus , Central Asia and the Russian Far East to China. Older data for North America are inaccurate and refer to the very similar Zelotes fratris . In Europe it occurs preferentially in Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, it is largely replaced in Ireland and Great Britain by the very similar Zelotes apricorum , it also forms widespread hybrids with this species here. In southern Europe the species is rare and mostly restricted to mountain areas, in Italy it occurs only in the Alps.
The very adaptable species inhabits a large number of habitats, including forests, moors, heaths, (including especially dwarf shrub heaths) semi, dry and poor grasslands, fresh and wet meadows, ruderal areas, as well as rubble and scree slopes. Only habitats that are too humid and areas that are used intensively by humans, including arable or agricultural sites, are avoided by the common black spider. In the Alps the species can be found up to an altitude of 1300 meters, in the Pyrenees it is even given up to 2250 meters.
Threat and protection
The common black spider is the most common species of the genus in many places, not least because of its adaptability. So it is not uncommon and accordingly has no protection status.
Way of life
Despite its abundance, little is known about the way the common black spider lives. Like many smooth-bellied spiders, it is nocturnal and hides during the day under stones, pieces of wood, in moss or dense grass, while at night it catches prey. Occasionally you can see the species walking around during the day. The animals can reach high running speeds in the jerky walkway typical for all species of the family and then suddenly come to a standstill.
Reproduction
Adult specimens of the common black spider are active between the months of March and October. During mating, which can take over 20 minutes, the male changes the bulb to be introduced into the female's epigyne once. In summer, the female then makes a lenticular, pink-colored egg cocoon , usually on the underside of a stone , which is guarded for some time before the young hatch.
Systematics
The common black spider received the scientific name Melanophora subterranea from its first describer Carl Ludwig Koch in 1833 . The same author introduced the synonym M. violacea in 1839 . The genus of woodlice flies Melanophora was established by Johann Wilhelm Meigen as early as 1803 . Johannes von Nepomuk Franz Xaver Gistel transferred the species in 1848 to the genus Zelotes which he had newly established , of which it is a type species and to which the black flat-bellied spider still belongs today. The species forms the subterraneus species group with a number of related and extremely similar species in Eurasia and North America . The females of the species group are very difficult to distinguish with certainty, in many cases after genital preparation.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Description of the common black spider on the website of www.natur-in-nrw.de ( Link )
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Heiko Bellmann: The cosmos spider leader. Over 400 species in Europe. Kosmos Naturführer, Kosmos (Franckh-Kosmos), 2nd edition, 2016, p. 246, ISBN 978-3-440-14895-2 .
- ↑ a b c d Ute Grimm (1985): Die Gnaphosidae Mitteleuropas (Arachnida, Araneae). Treatises of the Natural Science Association in Hamburg (NF) 26. ISBN 3-490-14296-9 , pp. 256–261.
- ↑ a b Zelotes subterraneus (CL Koch, 1833) at araneae Spiders of Europe, by Wolfgang Nentwig, Theo Blick, Robert Bosmans, Daniel Gloor, Ambros Hänggi & Christian Kropf.
- ↑ Heiko Bellmann: Cosmos Atlas of the arachnids of Europe. Franckh-Kosmos-Verlag, Stuttgart, 3rd edition 1997. ISBN 978-3-440-10746-1 , on p. 169.
- ↑ a b Zelotes subterraneus (CL Koch, 1833) in the WSC World Spider Catalog , accessed on November 25, 2019.
- ^ A b John A. Murphy & Norman I. Platnick (1986): On Zelotes subterraneus (CL Koch) in Britain (Araneae, Gnaphosidae). Bulletin of the British arachnological Society 7 (3): 97-100.
- ^ A b Norman I. Platnick & Mohammad U. Shadab (1983): A Revision of the American Spiders of the Genus Zelotes (Araneae, Gnaphosidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 174 (2): 97-192.
- ↑ Francesca Di Franco (1997): New considerations about the gnaphosid fauna of Italy (Araneae: Gnaphosidae). Bulletin of the British arachnological Society 10 (7), 242-246.
Web links
- Zelotes subterraneus (CL Koch, 1833) in the WSC World Spider Catalog.
- Zelotes subterraneus (CL Koch, 1833) at araneae Spiders of Europe, by Wolfgang Nentwig, Theo Blick, Robert Bosmans, Daniel Gloor, Ambros Hänggi & Christian Kropf.