Scytodes thoracica (Latreille, 1802)
Description
Male
Bulbus with a long, tapering embolus. Prosoma 2 mm long. Prosoma yellowish, equally large or larger than opisthosoma, dorsal line ascending posteriorly, pattern brown-black. Chelicerae weakly developed. Legs yellow-brown to black, annulated. Opisthosoma yellowish with brown-black pattern.
Body length male: 3.5-4 mmFemale
Prosoma 3 mm long. Cephalothorax almost as large as opisthosoma. Prosoma pale yellowish, with black pattern. Sternum pale yellow, labium slightly darker. Legs pale yellowish. Opisthosoma pale yellowish, with pairs of black patches on midline, and small black blotches on the side.
Body length female: 4-5.5 mmAdditional information
Outdoor in the southern parts of Europe, in heathland, scrub, rocky littoral, gardens, under stones, mainly in buildings, active during the night. Slow and skulking movements, does not build webs, but spits poison and adhesive from modified poison glands through large cheliceral opening on prey up to 20 mm away, which then is stuck to the surface.
Since a few decades, this species shows some spreading tendencies within Europe. Nevertheless, it shall not be listed as alien or invasive because it is native for Europe.
Distribution
Phenology
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
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Figures
Pedipalp
(Loksa 1969)
Pedipalp
(Locket & Millidge 1951)
Pedipalp
(Bürgis 1990)
Pedipalp
(Roberts 1995)
Pedipalp
(Wiehle 1953)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Rozwałka & Czaja 2021a)
Pedipalp
(Locket & Millidge 1951)
Epigyne
(Bürgis 1990)
Epigyne
(Wiehle 1953)
Epigyne
(Rozwałka & Czaja 2021a)
Epigyne
(Taberlet unpubl.)
Vulva
(Wiehle 1953)
Vulva, dorsal view
(Rozwałka & Czaja 2021a)
Vulva, ventral view
(Taberlet unpubl.)
Vulva, anterior view
(Taberlet unpubl.)
Vulva, posterior view
(Taberlet unpubl.)
Habitus
(Locket & Millidge 1951)
Habitus
(Loksa 1969)
Prosoma, lateral view
(Brændegaard 1966)
Prosoma, lateral view
(Loksa 1969)
Eyes, dorsal view
(Loksa 1969)
Eyes, dorsal view
(Wiehle 1953)
Sternum and coxa
(Wiehle 1953)
Sternum
(Locket & Millidge 1951)
Chelicerae, ventral view
(Wiehle 1953)
Chelicerae, ventral view
(Loksa 1969)
Chelicerae, ventral view
(Locket & Millidge 1951)
Habitus
(Bürgis 1990)
Habitus
(Bürgis 1990)
Habitus
(Wiehle 1953)
Habitus, dorsal view
(Rozwałka & Czaja 2021a)
Distribution List
"No references" does not mean that the species does not occur in this country, but that we have not yet inserted the reference for it. We are working on it.
References
Arnold K (2001) Beitrag zur Spinnenfauna (Arachnida, Araneae) des Fürstentums Liechtenstein. Berichte der Botanisch-Zoologischen Gesellschaft Liechtenstein-Sargans-Werdenberg 28: 211-244 
Benhacene R, Adjami A, Hadjeb A, Kermiche K, Ouakid M L (2023) Bibliographic checklist of the Algerian spider fauna (Araneae). Zootaxa 5352: 301-357
Blagoev G, Deltshev C, Lazarov S, Naumova M (2018) The spiders (Araneae) of Bulgaria. Version: August 2018. National Museum of Natural History, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Online at http://www.nmnhs.com/spiders-bulgaria/ (accessed on 10.9.2018)
Bosmans R, Van Keer J, Russell-Smith A, Hadjiconstantis M, Komnenov M, Bosselaers J, Huber S, McCowan D, Snazell R, Decae A, Zoumides C, Kielhorn K-H, Oger P (2019c) Spiders of Cyprus (Araneae). A catalogue of all currently known species from Cyprus. Newsletter of the Belgian Arachnological Society 34, Suppl. 1: 1-173
Bosmans R, Van Keer K (2017) Een herziene soortenlijst van de Belgische spinnen (Araneae). Nieuwsbrief van de Belgische Arachnologische Vereniging 32: 39-69
Branco V V, Morano E, Cardoso P (2019) An update to the Iberian spider checklist (Araneae). Zootaxa 4614: 201-254
Brændegaard J (1966) Edderkopper: Eller Spindlere I Danmarks Fauna 72: 1-224
Bürgis H (1990) Die Speispinne Scytodes thoracica (Araneae: Sicariidae). Ein Beitrag zur Morphologie und Biologie. Mitteilungen der Pollichia 77: 289-313
Danışman T, Kunt K B, Özkütük R S, Coşar İ (2024a) The checklist of the spiders of Turkey. Version 2024 [last updated 01 January 2024], online at http://www.spidersofturkey.info
Deltshev C, Vrenozi B, Blagoev G, Lazarov S (2011b) Spiders of Albania – faunistic and zoogeographical review (Arachnida: Araneae). Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 63: 125-144
Demircan N, Topçu A (2016) First records for spider fauna of the European part of Turkey (Araneae). Serket 15: 85-91
El-Hennawy H K (2006) A list of Egyptian spiders (revised in 2006). Serket 10: 65-76
Geci D, Naumova M (2021b) A preliminary checklist of the spiders of Kosovo (Arachnida: Araneae). Ecologia Balkanica, Special Edition 4: 11-28
Komnenov M (2010) Checklist of spiders (Araneae) of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Uzizaž i Biospeld 5(2009): 52-69
Komnenov M (2014) Spider fauna of the Osogovo Mt. Range, Northeastern Macedonia. Fauna Balkana 2: 1-267
Kostanjšek R, Kuntner M (2015) Araneae Sloveniae: a national spider species checklist. ZooKeys 474: 1-91
Kreuels M, Staudt A, Christian S (2019) Die Spinnenfauna von Luxemburg – eine Zusammenstellung der Nachweise aus den Jahren 1906-2018 (Arachnida: Araneae). Bulletin de la Société des naturalistes luxembourgeois 121: 203-230
Lavery A (2019) A revised checklist of the spiders of Great Britain and Ireland. Arachnology 18: 196-212
Le Peru B (2007) Catalogue et répartition des araignées de France. Revue Arachnologique 16: 1-468
Locket G H, Millidge A F (1951) British spiders. Vol. I. Ray Society, London, 310 pp.
Loksa I (1969) Pokok I-Araneae I. Fauna Hungariae 97: 1-133
Milosevic B (2002) Aranea – Popis vrsta – Checklist. Hrvatsko entomološko društvo – Inventar entomofaune Hrvatske [Aranea – List of species – Checklist. Croatian Entomological Society – Inventory of Croatian entomofauna].
Naumova M, Lazarov S, Deltshev C (2019a) Faunistic diversity of the spiders in Montenegro (Arachnida: Araneae). Ecologica Montenegrina 22: 50-89
Otto S (2022) Caucasian spiders. A faunistic database on the spiders of the Caucasus Ecoregion. Database version 02.2022. Internet: caucasus-spiders.info.
Pantini P, Isaia M (2019) Araneae.it: the online catalog of Italian spiders, with addenda on other arachnid orders occurring in Italy (Arachnida: Araneae, Opiliones, Palpigradi, Pseudoscorpionida, Scorpiones, Solifugae). Fragmenta Entomologica 51: 127-152
Pfliegler W A, Schönhofer A, Niedbała W, Vella P, Sciberras A, Vella A (2017) New records of mites (Acari) and harvestmen (Opiliones) from Malta with a preliminary checklist of Maltese Arachnida. Soil Organisms 89: 85-110
Polchaninova N, Prokopenko E (2019) An updated checklist of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Left-Bank Ukraine. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 57: 60-64 & App
Ponomarev A V (2022) Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of the southeast of the Russian Plain: catalogue, the fauna specific features. SSC RAS Publishers, Rostov-on-Don, 640 pp.
Roberts M J (1995) Collins Field Guide: Spiders of Britain & Northern Europe. HarperCollins, London, 383 pp.
Rozwałka R, Czaja M (2021a) [Distribution of Scytodes thoracica (Latreille, 1802) (Araneae: Scytodidae) in Poland]. Acta Entomologica Silesiana 29(8): 1-6
Rozwałka R, Stanska M (2008) Check-list of spiders (Araneae) of Poland. 1. December 2008. online at http://www.arachnologia.edu.pl/en/species/8-spiders-of-poland.html
Růžička V, Řezáč M (2022a) Seznam pavouků České republiky. List of spiders of the Czech Republic. Online at https://www.arachnology.cz/seznam-pavouku-cr-26.html and https://www.arachnology.cz/en/seznam-pavouku-cr-26.html
Samu F, Szinetár C (1999) Bibliographic check list of the Hungarian spider fauna. Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 11: 161-184
Taberlet J-P (unpubl.)
Van Keer J, Bosmans R (2014) A new species of Scytodes from Algeria (Araneae: Scytodidae), with a review of the species from the Maghreb. Zootaxa 3894: 131-140
Vasiliev A I, Mikhailov K G (2023) Annotated checklist of spiders (Araneae) of the Republic of Moldova. Invertebrate Zoology 20: 307-342
Wiehle H (1953) Spinnentiere oder Arachnoidea (Araneae), IX. Orthognatha-Cribellata-Haplogynae, Entelegynae (Pholcidae, Zodariidae, Oxyopidae, Mimetidae, Nesticidae). Die Tierwelt Deutschlands 42: 1-150
WSC (2024) World Spider Catalog. Version 25.5. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (31.10.2024) doi: 10.24436/2
Updates
| 21-05-2023 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 16-07-2021 | Image insert | |
| 16-07-2021 | Gallery image insert | |
| 20-06-2021 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 20-06-2021 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 09-05-2021 | Image insert | |
| 09-05-2021 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 08-06-2020 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 06-05-2020 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 01-05-2020 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 16-05-2018 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 04-12-2013 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 16-04-2013 | Image insert | |
| 15-04-2013 | Distribution update | Detail |