A collection of spiders ( Araneae ) in Albanian coastal areas

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.


Materials and methods
Field work was carried out between 2006 and 2009 in six districts of Albania listed from north to south in the western lowlands (Fig. 1).Data on latitude and longitude are taken from http://wikimapia.org :  Vegetation, stones, rocks and ground, etc. were investigated for their spider content by hand collecting, sweeping with entomological nets and beating.Spiders were killed with ether or chloroform and preserved in ethanol (75 %).The material is deposited in the Museum of Natural Sciences in Tirana.The primary literature used for identification included Grimm (1985), heimer & nentwiG (1991), maurer (1992), metzner (1999), nent-wiG et al. (2011), roBertS (1987, 1995), and türkeS & merGen (2008).In addition to these cited references, specialist literature was used for identifying some similar species: Eresus kollari Rossi, 1846 was distinguished from Eresus moravicus Rezác, 2008following thaler & knoflaCh (2002) and rezáC et al. (2008); Alopecosa pulverulenta (Clerck, 1757) and Trochosa robusta (Simon, 1876) were identified using kroneStedt (1990), hepner & milaSowSzky (2006) and milaSowSzky et al. ( 1998) respectively.Comparative specimens of these latter species were subsequently reviewed by the author in the Senckenberg Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main and in the Institute of Zoology, Sofia.
The order of families and nomenclature follows platniCk (2011).Data concerning the general distribution of spiders are taken from platniCk (2011) and helSdinGen (2011).

Results
The present study yielded 82 species belonging to 60 genera and 22 families (256 females, 43 males) (see Tab. 1).Six species are recorded here for the first time from Albania; five of which were collected only in Saranda, the southern district of Albania: Aculepeira armida (Audouin, 1826) This species is widely distributed in the southern parts of the Palaearctic.The female of A. armida can be distinguished from A. ceropegia by the structure of the epigyne.Only one female was recorded in Saranda, 8. July 2007, in the Mirror beach, associated with rocky habitats and shrubs.Zygiella x-notata (Clerck, 1757) Z. x-notata has a Holarctic distribution and is probably also present in the Neotropics.In Europe it is synanthropic, so an introduction to other continents seems to be "easy".In Albania only one female was recorded in Saranda, 3. July 2007 on a hill with Pinus sp.
Histopona torpida (C.L. Koch, 1837) A Palaearctic species, widespread in Europe and Russia.H. torpida was checked against H. italica and H. luxurians.In Albania three females were recorded in Saranda, 2. July 2007 on a hill with Pinus sp.
Malthonica campestris (C. L. Koch, 1834) This species has a Central and Eastern European distribution with a few additional records in Azerbaijan.In Albania two females were recorded in Saranda, 7. July 2007 on the hill of Butrinti castle, on the walls of the castle and adjacent bushes.
Pellenes tripunctatus (Walckenaer, 1802) This species has a Palaearctic distribution.Three females were recorded, 2. June 2008, in the meadows and forest with Fagus sylvatica of Dajti Mountain, Tirana District.(Walckenaer, 1826) This is a Palaearctic species.The only female was recorded in Saranda, 7. July 2007, on the hill of Butrinti castle, on walls and bushes.
Species number according to complexes and chorotypes.Abbreviations as in Tab. 1.