The sclerosomatid harvestman Homalenotus quadridentatus (Cuvier, 1795), long known close to the border of Germany, is hereby confirmed for the country. Several specimens were observed and collected in a small urban garden area in the town Aachen, suggesting a considerable population. The finding is briefly discussed, and general remarks on the distribution, ecology and conservation of the species are provided.

The pantropical theridiid spider Coleosoma floridanum Banks, 1900 was recorded for the first time in Slovakia and in the Czech Republic. Both sexes and juveniles were collected in some numbers in heated greenhouses with high humidity. A description and photographs of the species is provided.

The present study summarises spider records from East Macedonia and Thrace (NE Greece). Spiders were mainly collected by hand sampling and to a smaller extent by pitfall trapping during field trips in 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2009. 171 species from 23 families were sampled. Pelecopsis pavida (O. P.-Cambridge, 1872) (Linyphiidae) and Xysticus kaznakovi Utochkin, 1968 (Thomisidae) were new to the European spider fauna and ten further species, Diaea livens Simon, 1876, Heriaeus graminicola (Doleschall, 1852), Meioneta ressli Wunderlich, 1973, Oedothorax retusus (Westring, 1851), Philodromus albidus Kulczynski, 1911, Pocadicnemis pumila Keyserling, 1880, Sitticus saltator (O. P.-Cambridge, 1868), Stemonyphantes lineatus (Linnaeus, 1758), Synageles scutiger Prószynski, 1979 and Thanatus coloradensis Keyserling, 1880, could be added to the Greek fauna for the first time. 21 and 38 species were new to East Macedonia and Thrace, respectively. Based on previous work, plus the present study, the Greek spider fauna now includes 1,108 species.

We found the ichneumonid Polysphincta rufipes Gravenhorst, 1829 (tribus Polysphinctini) to be a koinobiont parasitoid of two species of araneid orb-weavers, Larinioides sclopetarius and Zygiella x-notata, in Central Europe. Some notes on the biology of P. rufipes are given, based on observations both in the field and in the laboratory. The wasps directly attack non-adult spiders sitting in the hubs of their webs. Parasitized spiders could be found from, at least, August to early December. The duration of the development of the wasp larvae, including the pupal stage, is about two months. It seems conceivable that at the end of the larval stage the larva somehow manipulates its host spider; i.e. the spider is forced to enter its retreat – a safe place where the larva can kill the host, complete its development and spin a cocoon for pupation (pupa libera).

We recorded the tent-web spider Cyrtophora citricola (Forsskål, 1775) (Araneidae: Cyrtophorinae) from Turkey for the first time at two sites. Body measurements and a brief description of the female are presented, as well as information on the sites (olive and orange orchards, shrubs) and the accompanying spider fauna.

An illustrated description of Withius hispanus (L. Koch, 1873) is provided based on its morphological and morphometric characters. This finding of W. hispanus is the first record of the family Withiidae in Slovakia. The present re-description of this species allows an assessment of the variability of its morphological and morphometric characters.

Lepidodactylus lugubris (Squamata: Gekkonidae) as prey of Pholcus phalangioides (Araneae: Pholcidae)

The female of Robertus golovatchi Eskov, 1987 is described for the first time from Abkhazia and the male is also figured. The female is compared to another species known from the Caucasus R. mediterraneus Eskov, 1987.

Three adult females of Paratrachelas maculatus (Thorell, 1875) were found inside a house in the south of Vienna, in a cellar in Cologne and in a house in Rüsselsheim. Additional notes on diet in captivity are presented.

book review: Rainar Nitzsche (2012): Spinnen kennen lernen. Ekelig, giftig oder zum Kuscheln? Wie Spinnen wirklich sind.

book review: Jörg Wunderlich (ed.) (2012): Fifteen papers on extant and fossil spiders (Araneae). 368 pp. Beiträge zur Araneologie 7.

book review: Jörg Wunderlich (ed.) (2012): Die Spinnen-Familien Europas: Bestimmung, Merkmale und Vielfalt. Ein zweisprachiges Handbuch, 192 pp. Beiträge zur Araneologie 8.

European Spider of the Year 2013

congress report

Epigeic spiders were sampled using pitfall traps during one year in an anthropogenic open site within the city of Karlsruhe (Alter Flugplatz Karlsruhe). The area, historically used as a military parade ground and airport, is protected as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) within the Natura 2000 network of the EU and since 2010 as a German nature reserve. We were interested in the diversity, assemblage structure and distribution of spider species within the area and investigated three different plant formations: sparse grass-dominated vegetation with frequent open sand patches (sandy turf), closed grassland dominated by the mat-grass (Nardus stricta) and ruderal vegetation with blackberry bushes. 123 species were identified from these captures, including many specialists of xerothermic habitats and rare and endangered species like Alopecosa striatipes, Agroeca lusatica, Haplodrassus dalmatensis, Styloctetor romanus, Typhochrestus simoni and Xysticus striatipes as well as extremely rare species of unclassified red list status like Mysmenella jobi, Theonoe minutissima and Zora parallela. The three investigated habitat types were quite similar concerning α-diversity, while measures of β-diversity indicated a strong species turnover. By performing an ecological habitat analysis (using autecological data on spiders) essential differences between the three habitat types could not be discovered, especially not between mat-grass and sandy turf. However, analysing the guild structures showed that different ways of using habitat resources dominated in the different habitat types. For Nardus-grassland several species could be identified as indicator species. While many xero- and photophiles live in the open grassland, the stenotopic psammophiles of inland dunes in the region were not found. The ruderal area houses a mix of grassland- and forest species.

The present study unites data from several excursions in typical Mediterranean lowland ecosystems in Albania during the years 2006 to 2009. Spiders from several different habitat types along the coast were analysed in six districts: Saranda, Fieri, Kavaja, Durrësi, Tirana and Lezha. In total 299 adult specimens were collected. They belong to 82 species, 60 genera and 22 families. Six species are new to the Albanian fauna: Aculepeira armida (Audouin, 1826), Zygiella x-notata (Clerck, 1757), Histopona torpida (C. L. Koch, 1837), Malthonica campestris (C. L. Koch, 1834), Pellenes tripunctatus (Walckenaer, 1802) and Pseudeuophrys erratica (Walckenaer, 1826). With respect to zoogeography, the spider fauna is mainly characterized by the presence of many Palaearctic species.

The manuscript name Chelifer longimanus Kollar, 1848, most often cited as Obisium longimanum Kollar, was first introduced in a note by Kollar (1848) that has been overlooked in the taxonomic literature on pseudoscorpions. No description or indication has been associated with this name, which is therefore a nomen nudum. It corresponds to the valid pseudoscorpion species Neobisium spelaeum (Schiödte, 1847), having been found at one of the type localities of the latter (Postojna Cave, Slovenia). Two specimens originally identified as O. longimanum (probably by V. Kollar) are present in the collections of the Naturhistorisches Museum Wien.

Congress invitation

The ‘Hesse collection’ of spiders (Araneae) and harvestmen (Opiliones) in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin is documented. Biographical notes on Erich Hesse – a former arachnid curator at the museum (1921–1940) – are provided. The ‘Hesse collection’ was actually put together by other workers, and can be broadly divided into two parts. One comes from Bielinek (= Bellinchen) on the Polish side of the Oder Valley (West Pommerania); now part of the ‘Unteres Odertal’ National Park. This Bielinek material includes notable records of Heriaeus oblongus Simon, 1918 and Gibbaranea ullrichi (Hahn, 1835). The other part of the collection comes from Colbitz-Letzlinger Heide in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Notable here are Pistius truncatus (Pallas, 1772) and Philodromus buchari Kubcová, 2004; the latter representing the first record of this species for Saxony-Anhalt.

In the ”Checklist of the spiders of Central Europe” 945 species are listed for Switzerland. During the last few years numerous species have been found which represent new records for Switzerland and that, at least partly, have already been published. This 4th appendix to the catalogue of Swiss spiders presents fourteen species recorded for the first time in Switzerland: Carniella brignolii Thaler & Steinberger, 1988, Theridion cinereum Thorell, 1875, Diplocephalus foraminifer (O. P.-Cambridge, 1875), Panamomops affinis Miller & Kratochvíl, 1939, Troxochrota scabra Kulczyński, 1894, Pardosa fulvipes (Collett, 1876), P. sphagnicola (Dahl, 1908), Hahnia microphthalma Snazell & Duffey, 1980, Archaeodictyna consecuta (O. P.-Cambridge, 1872), Brommella falcigera (Balogh, 1935), Cheiracanthium campestre Lohmander, 1944, Drassodex drescoi Hervé, Roberts & Murphy, 2009, Thanatus firmetorum Muster & Thaler, 2003 and Xysticus viduus Kulczyński, 1898. Thirteen further species are presented that were already published elsewhere. The current number of species in Switzerland is thus 972. As special curiosities, five species are presented that will not yet be entered into the checklist but nevertheless may happen to be found in human surroundings.