Big cave spider
| Big cave spider | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Large cave spider ( Meta menardi ), female |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Meta menardi | ||||||||||||
| ( Latreille , 1804) |
The Large cave spider ( Meta menardi ), also hollow cross spider or such as the genus meta menardi called, is a spider within the family of the Strecker spiders (Tetragnathidae).
She was named Spider of the Year 2012 by the European Society of Arachnology . In addition, the Association of German Cave and Karst Researchers named this spider Cave Animal of the Year 2012.
description
The large cave spider is one of the large spiders in Central Europe. The males reach a body length of 11 to 13 millimeters and the females from 14 to 17 millimeters. Both sexes show a similar drawing and coloring. Their body is very shiny and the basic color is usually quite dark. The front body ( prosoma ) is brown to reddish brown with a dark central stripe and wide, dark side surfaces. The back of the body ( opisthosoma ) varies from green to dark brown and is covered with black markings. On the underside you can see a dark middle part, which is sometimes bordered yellow. The legs are ringed brown and black and provided with numerous longer spines. The young animals are usually lighter and have a whitish or yellowish, darkly marked abdomen.
distribution
In Germany, the Great Cave Spider occurs most frequently in the mountainous region, especially in karst areas such as the Swabian Alb . There it often populates in large numbers the entrances to caves, tunnels, cellars, wells and other damp and dark places. The deposit known since 1929 and currently the most north-westerly deposit is in the Bad Segeberger Kalkhöhle. The site in Sassnitz on Rügen is the second site for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after Rostock and represents the northernmost occurrence of Meta menardi in northern Germany.
Way of life
The great cave spider can be found all year round in dark and damp places such as cellars, caves and mine tunnels. During the warmer months of the year it is mainly in the entrance area of caves, while in winter it retreats further into the interior of the cave. The network is compared to its size remarkably small and radienarm. It rarely reaches more than 30 centimeters in diameter and always contains less than 20, sometimes even only 8 radii. In the center of the net, as with all native meta species, there is a hole, as it removes all threads from the hub when the net is ready.
nutrition
Since the great cave spider lives in habitats with poor food supply, it seems to be very frugal. Small mosquitoes , woodlice and millipedes and only rarely butterflies or caddis flies , which visit the caves as a wintering place, are found in their net . Occasionally, however, moths of the olive-brown cave- moth are captured.
Reproduction
Mating usually takes place in early summer. In the period from July to September, the female produces a balloon-shaped egg cocoon about two centimeters in size, which contains a few hundred eggs. The cocoon is attached to the cave wall or ceiling with a strand of thread. The young spiders hatch in autumn or winter. Their development takes at least two years. If the food supply is poor, the development may be delayed by several years.
literature
- Heiko Bellmann: Cosmos Atlas Arachnids of Europe . Kosmos, 2006.
- Kurt Rudnick and Dirk Karoske: Remarkable spiders discovered in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania ; In: Nature conservation work in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania; 56th year, issue 2/2013; Page 3–8, ISSN 0232-2307.
Individual evidence
- ↑ K.Rudnick & D.Karoske, Remarkable spiders discovered in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In: Nature Conservation Work in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Volume 56, Issue 2/2013, Pages 3–8
- ^ Günter Ebert (Ed.): The butterflies of Baden-Württemberg . 1st edition. tape 8 . Moth VI. Spanner (Geometridae) 1st part. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3497-7 .
Web links
Large cave spider in the World Spider Catalog
Cave shrimp (2009) | Ragged Owl (2010) | Great mouse-eared mouse (2011) | Great Cave Spider (2012) | Cave mushroom mosquito (2013) | Höhlenwasserassel (2014) | Cellar gloss snail (2015) | Cave Long Legs (2016) | Four-spotted cave parasitic wasp (2017) | Schwarzer Schnurfüßer (2018) | Common cave mosquito (2019) | Brick Wall (2020)
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)