Autumn spider
| Autumn spider | ||||||||||||
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Autumn spider ( Metellina segmentata ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Metellina segmentata | ||||||||||||
| ( Clerck , 1757) |
The autumn spider ( Metellina segmentata , syn .: Meta segmentata ) is the most common and most widespread species of the autumn spider genus ( Metellina ) in the family of the extensor spider in Central Europe .
description
The females of M. segmentata reach a body length of 6.5 to 9 mm, the males 6 to 7.5 mm. The front body ( prosoma ) is yellowish to light brown with a protruding eye hillock and a Y-shaped, black longitudinal drawing. The oblong, oval-shaped abdomen is yellowish, greenish or reddish-brown with diffuse leaf markings.
In contrast to the very similar sister species Metellina mengei , which occurs almost as an adult throughout the year, the adult autumn spider actually only occurs from late summer to autumn. The males can be distinguished by the long bristles of the tarsus and metatarsus of the first leg (in M. mengei ) and the females by a ventral darkening in front of the epigyne (in M. mengei ).
distribution and habitat
The autumn spider colonizes almost all open and semi-open habitats of the plains of the Palearctic . It mainly inhabits the herbaceous layer, but also the shrub layer on the edges of forests, hedges or in gardens.
Way of life
The adult animals are particularly active in autumn (August to October) and are then very rich in individuals. They build relatively small, diagonally to horizontally suspended wheel nets with 20 to 25 spokes. The threads in the middle are bitten out after completion, so that an open hub is created.
Often several much smaller males wait near the female's net until the female is willing to mate. In order not to be seen as prey, the male mates and copulates only when the female is busy eating. To do this, the male bites prey from the female's net that has already been woven in as a supply and presents it to the same female as a bride-to-be present. The pairing only takes a few minutes. The eggs overwinter in the cocoon.
The females fall sometimes spiders of the genus Ero ( Mimetidae ) victim: Ero mimics the male Zupfsignale the Balzfäden the orb web of M. segmentata and attracts them as from the network, where they of Ero is captured.
Danger
The species is widespread and common in suitable habitats. In Germany it is classified as "safe" in the Red List .
literature
- Dick Jones: Der Kosmos Spinnenführer , Franckh'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-440-06141-8
- Rainer F. Foelix: Biology of the Spiders , Thieme, Stuttgart 1979, ISBN 3-13-575802-8
- Stefan Heimer, Wolfgang Nentwig: Spinnen Mitteleuropas , Paul Parey, Berlin 1991, ISBN 3-489-53534-0
- Hänggi; Stöckli; Nentwig: Habitats of Central European Spiders , Misc. Faun. Helvetiae, Center suisse de cartographie de la faune. Neuchatel / Bern 1995, ISBN 2-88414-008-5
- Frieder Sauer , Jörg Wunderlich: The most beautiful spiders in Europe , Fauna-Verlag, Karlsfeld 1985, ISBN 3-923010-03-6
- Heiko Bellmann: Cosmos Atlas Arachnids of Europe . 3rd edition, 2006. Kosmos, Stuttgart. ISBN 978-3-440-10746-1
Web links
Metellina segmentata in the World Spider Catalog
- Identification key for the autumn spiders
- Distribution in Germany
- Metellina segmentata in the Wiki of the Arachnological Society e. V.
Individual evidence
- ^ Roberts: Collins Field Guides - Spiders. Harper Collins Publishers, London 1995
- ↑ http://www.britishspiders.org.uk/html/bas.php?page=world&taxon_key=nbnsys0000354310 Map of the worldwide distribution of the autumn spider from the British Arachnological Society