Spider of the year

The spider of the year has been proclaimed annually by the Arachnological Society (AraGes) since 2000 to draw attention to the endangerment of these animals and their habitats. Since 2006, the spider of the year has been proclaimed across Europe, in cooperation u. a. with the European Society of Arachnology .

The selection of the spider of the year depends on the endangerment of the species or its habitat by humans. The effect of spiders on many people ( arachnophobia ) is also not insignificant , for this reason very conspicuous or interesting species are selected so that recognition is also guaranteed for the zoological layperson. The concept of protection on which the nature of the year concept is based puts endangered species in the foreground. In the case of spiders, this would mean that “with a few exceptions, small, unattractive and rarely observed species are available as candidates”. The selection committee therefore tries to create a “change from beautiful, colorful or rare species to common and widespread species”. For the first time a whole genus was named for 2008 - following this line a widespread and frequent one - and every European country is free to highlight a species native to this country .

Previous spiders of the year

year	German name	scientific name	Illustration	Remarks
2000	Water spider	Argyroneta aquatica
2001	Wasp spider	Argiope bruennichi
2002	Cunning spider	Pisaura mirabilis
2003	Great trembling spider	Pholcus phalangiodes
2004	Green hoof spider	Micrommata virescens
2005	Zebra jumping spider	Salticus scenicus
2006	Mutable crab spider	Misumena vatia
2007	River wolf spider	Arctosa cinerea
2008	Angle spinning	Tegenaria		It is the spiders that are commonly called house spiders ; in Germany, Austria, Switzerland: large angle spider ( Tegenaria atrica , fig.) (2008)
2009	Triangular spider	Hyptiotes paradoxus
2010	Garden spider	Araneus diadematus
2011	Common labyrinth spider	Agelena labyrinthica
2012	Big cave spider	Meta menardi
2013	Common wallpaper spider	Atypus affinis
2014	Common canopy spider	Linyphia triangularis
2015	Vierfleck-Zartspider	Anyphaena accentuata
2016	Cone spider	Cyclosa conica
2017	Crevasse spider	Nuctenea umbratica
2018	Common fat spider	Steatoda bipunctata
2019	Ant jumping spider	Myrmarachne formicaria
2020	Edged hunting spider	Dolomedes fimbriatus

Remarks:

⁽²⁰⁰⁸⁾ Tegenaria understood in a broader sense, with species that are currently in the genus Malthonica (a genus assignment that has not yet been clarified):

• Angular spider ( Tegenaria agrestis ): Netherlands
• Large angle spider ( Tegenaria atrica ): Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Hungary
• House angle spider (cellar spider, Tegenaria domestica ): Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Hungary
• Tegenaria feminea ( Eratigena feminea ): Portugal (endemic to the Iberian Peninsula)
• Rust-red angle spider ( Malthonica ferruginea ): Czech Republic, Hungary
• Wall angle spider ( Tegenaria parietina ): Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Italy
• Tegenaria saeva : Ireland (Western Europe,very similar to T. atrica )
• Forest angle spider ( Malthonica silvestris ): Slovenia

Some countries nominated several representatives.

Web links

• Arachnological Society e. V., Spider of the Year
• European Society of Arachnology
• naturschutzbund.at: Spider of the year

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Peter Jäger : European spider of the year 2008 is the genus Tegenaria. In: Arachnol. Mitt. 34 (2007), Diversa , p. 47 f (article pdf, ub.uni-frankfurt.de); Quotes from section Why a commune spider? , P. 47, col. 2.
2. ↑ The large angle spider - Tegenaria atrica CL Koch 1843. European spider of the year 2008 ( Memento of the original from July 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , european-arachnology.org