Green crab spider
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Green crab spider ( Diaea dorsata ) |
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| Diaea dorsata | ||||||||||||
| ( Fabricius , 1777) |
The green crab spider ( Diaea dorsata ), also called green- brown crab spider , is a species of spider from the family of crab spiders (Thomisidae). It is widespread and common in Central Europe .
description
The green crab spider is one of the smaller crab spider species with a body length of five to six millimeters (females) or three to four millimeters (males). Compared to many other crab spiders, the species shows only slight sexual dimorphism in terms of color and drawing. In the female, the front body ( prosoma ) and the legs are monochrome light green, while the abdomen ( opisthosoma ) has a white-yellow basic color and has a brown, shield-shaped pattern. In the male, the prosoma and front legs are variably spotted brown.
distribution and habitat
The green crab spider inhabits large parts of the Palearctic from Great Britain and Portugal in the west to eastern Siberia and Japan in the east. In north-south direction, the distribution extends from Scandinavia to Bulgaria and further east to Iran . The distribution area includes the temperate to Mediterranean zone. The species occurs in almost all of Europe and is only absent in Ireland and Iceland, as well as in Greece .
The species does not inhabit forests of any kind that are too wet here. It usually lives in higher vegetation in the bushes and in the treetops.
Way of life
The species overwinters under the bark of dead trees in the last stage of youth. Adult animals can be found from May. The males show a very unusual behavior: They fight so-called "comment fights" with one another by standing opposite one another with widely spread front legs a few millimeters apart and prancing around. This ritual can sometimes last for hours.
Danger
The species is widespread and common in suitable habitats. In Germany it is classified as "safe" in the Red List .
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literature
- Heiko Bellmann : Cosmos Atlas Arachnids of Europe . 3rd edition, 2006. Kosmos, Stuttgart, ISBN 978-3-440-10746-1 .
- R. Braun: The sexual behavior of the crab spider Diaea dorsata (F.) and the tender spider Anyphaena accentuata (Walck.) As an indication of their systematic integration. Zool. Number 160, 1958: pp. 119-134
- Hänggi, Ambros; Stöckli, Edi; Nentwig, Wolfgang, 1995. Habitat of Central European Spiders. Miscellanea Faunistica Helvetiae - Center suisse de cartographie de la faune, Neuchatel. ISBN 2884140085
- 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.
