Dysdera crocata C. L. Koch, 1838
Description
Male
Bulb 1.5 mm long. Prosoma 4.6 mm long. Prosoma with broad and shallow head region. Chelicerae light to dark red-brown, stout, anterior cheliceral furrow margin straight or convex. Femur IV with 1-4 spines. Tibia IV mostly with on spine ventrally.
Body length male: 9-10 mmFemale
Vulva angular anteriorly, anterior process of receptaculum seminis appears uniformly broad, outwardly bent. Prosoma red-brown, with fine grains. Eyes: PME slightly larger than PLE, anteriors one diameter apart. Legs: femur IV usually with 2 dorsal spines, tibia III with 4 to 9 spines, tibia IV with 4 to 10 spines, metatarsus III and IV with numerous spines.
Comparison of D. crocata / D. erythrina by J.-P. Taberlet: PDF
Body length female: 11-15 mmAdditional information
In forests, marshes, dunes, gardens. Under stones, logs, in litter, moss. Also in caves, quarries, damp cellars.
This species can bite humans (Vetter & Isbister, 2006). The bite may be moderately painful and has a median duration of 40 minutes, in one third of cases pain is described as severe. There may also be moderate local itchiness and redness.
Distribution
Phenology
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
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Figures
Pedipalp
(Brændegaard 1966)
Pedipalp
(Wiehle 1953)
Pedipalp
(Loksa 1969)
Pedipalp
(Locket & Millidge 1951)
Pedipalp
(Deeleman-Reinhold & Deeleman 1988)
Pedipalp
(Roberts 1995)
Pedipalp
(Wiehle 1953)
Pedipalp
(Locket & Millidge 1951)
Tip of bulbus
(Deeleman-Reinhold & Deeleman 1988)
Bulbus, ventral view
(Cassar & Řezáč 2021)
Bulbus, retrolateral view
(Simon 1911)
Epigyne
(Cassar & Řezáč 2021)
Epigyne
(Abdel-Ghani et al. 2023)
Vulva
(Deeleman-Reinhold & Deeleman 1988)
Vulva
(Wiehle 1953)
Vulva
(Loksa 1969)
Vulva
(Deeleman-Reinhold & Deeleman 1988)
Vulva, ventral view
(Deeleman-Reinhold & Deeleman 1988)
Vulva
(Burger unpubl.)
Prosoma, dorsal view
(Heimer & Nentwig 1991)
Eyes, dorsal view
(Brændegaard 1966)
Tibia IV
(Locket & Millidge 1951)
Opisthosoma, ventral view
(Locket & Millidge 1951)
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
Abdel-Ghani D M A, Hassan F M, Sallam G M E (2023) Spiders as a bio-agent factor in a mango greenhouse at Giza Governorate, Egypt. Serket 20: 26-38 
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 (2002) Check list of Macedonian spiders (Araneae). Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 54: 9-34
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)
Blick T (2018) A small collection of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) from the River Vjosa, Albania – with an updated spider checklist of Albania. Acta ZooBot Austria 155: 213-232
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
Burger M (unpubl.)
Cassar T, Řezáč M (2021) The Dysderidae of the Maltese Islands (Arachnida: Araneae). Arachnologische Mitteilungen 62: 82-85
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
Deeleman-Reinhold C L, Deeleman P R (1988) Revision des Dysderinae (Araneae, Dysderidae), les espèces mediterranéennes occidentales exceptées. Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 131: 141-269
Deltshev C, Vrenozi B, Blagoev G, Lazarov S (2011b) Spiders of Albania – faunistic and zoogeographical review (Arachnida: Araneae). Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 63: 125-144
El-Hennawy H K (2017a) A list of Egyptian spiders (revised in 2017). Serket 15: 167-183
Geci D, Naumova M (2021b) A preliminary checklist of the spiders of Kosovo (Arachnida: Araneae). Ecologia Balkanica, Special Edition 4: 11-28
Heimer S, Nentwig W (1991) Spinnen Mitteleuropas. Paul Parey Berlin
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
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.
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
Simon E (1911) Catalogue raisonné des arachnides du nord de l'Afrique (1re partie). Annales de la Société Entomologique de France 79: 265-332
Szymański D M, Szymański D, Szymański H M (2023) The first record of Dysdera crocata C. L. Koch, 1838 (Araneae: Dysderidae) in Poland. Fragmenta Faunistica 65: 161-164
Vetter R S, Isbister G K (2006) Verified bites by the woodlouse spider, Dysdera crocata. Toxicon 47: 826-829
Vrenozi B (2012) A collection of spiders (Araneae) in Albanian coastal areas. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 44: 41-46
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
| 11-12-2024 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 07-05-2024 | Image insert | |
| 22-04-2024 | Image insert | |
| 30-05-2023 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 17-05-2023 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 19-02-2023 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 19-02-2023 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 14-10-2021 | Image insert | |
| 19-06-2021 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 16-02-2021 | Gallery image insert | |
| 22-01-2021 | Datasheet update | Detail |
| 07-12-2020 | Gallery image insert | |
| 06-05-2020 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 06-03-2018 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 26-11-2013 | Datasheet update | Detail |