Oonopidae  Simon, 1890 / Silhouettella  Benoit, 1979   3 species

Silhouettella loricatula  (Roewer, 1942)

Description
Male

Palp: patella and tibia subequal, bulb pear-shaped, embolus as long as lobe, straight, curved at the top. Prosoma 0.7-0.9 mm long. Characters as in female, but tibia I and II with 4 pairs of ventrolateral spines. Body colour carmine-red. Prosoma dorsally shiny, laterally granulated. Sternum granulated with smooth areas near coxae. Legs lighter than body colour. Opisthosoma dorsally shining and smooth, completely covered by large scutum, with few hairs. Ventral scutum smaller than dorsal scutum, with small marked off part anterior of spinnerets.

Body length male: 1.5-2 mm
Female

Epigynal region not sclerotised. Prosoma 0.7-0.9 mm long. Eyes: ocular area as wide as the front of prosoma, median eyes smaller than laterals. Legs: tibia I with 3 pairs of ventrolateral spines, metatarsus I with 2 pairs of ventral spines.

Body length female: 1.5-2 mm
Additional information

In garrigue, under stones and in litter, biology mostly unknown.

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
  Presence
  Not established
  No data
Global distribution (WSC 2025): Canary Is., North Africa, Europe to Central Asia
Phenology
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
 male  female
Figures
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.

Albania   (Naumova, 2020) ||| Algeria   (Benhacene et al., 2023) ||| Azerbaijan   (Otto, 2022) ||| Bulgaria   (Blagoev et al., 2018) ||| France   (Le Peru, 2007) ||| Germany   (Blick et al., 2016) ||| Greece   (Bosmans & Chatzaki, 2005) ||| Greece / Crete   (Bosmans et al., 2013) ||| Italy   (Pantini & Isaia, 2019) ||| Italy / Sardinia   (Pantini & Isaia, 2019) ||| Italy / Sicily   (Pantini & Isaia, 2019) ||| Malta   (Pfliegler et al., 2017) ||| Morocco   (Benhalima & Bosmans, 2024) ||| Portugal   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Spain   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Spain / Balearic Islands   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Tunisia   (Bosmans, 2003) ||| Turkey (Asia)   (Danışman et al., 2024a) |||
References

Benhacene R, Adjami A, Hadjeb A, Kermiche K, Ouakid M L (2023) Bibliographic checklist of the Algerian spider fauna (Araneae). Zootaxa 5352: 301-357 pdf

Benhalima S, Bosmans R (2024) First historical checklist of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) from Morocco, between 1840–2024. Zootaxa 5555: 407-535 pdf

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) pdf

Blick T, Finch O-D, Harms K H, Kiechle J, Kielhorn K-H , Kreuels M, Malten A, Martin D, Muster C, Nährig D, Platen R, Rödel I, Scheidler M, Staudt A, Stumpf H, Tolke D (2016) Rote Liste und Gesamtartenliste der Spinnen (Arachnida: Araneae) Deutschlands. 3. Fassung, Stand April 2008, einzelne Änderungen und Nachträge bis August 2015. Naturschutz und Biologische Vielfalt 70/4: 383-510 pdf

Bosmans R (2003) A checklist of the spiders of Tunisia, with description of a new species of Palliduphantes Saaristo & Tanasevitch (Araneae: Linyphiidae). Kaupia - Darmstädter Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte 12: 89-109 pdf

Bosmans R, Chatzaki M (2005) A catalogue of the spiders of Greece – a critical review of all spider species cited from Greece with their localities. Nieuwsbrief van de Belgische arachnologische Vereniging 20 (2, suppl.): 1-124 pdf

Bosmans R, Van Keer J, Russell-Smith A, Kronestedt T, Alderweireldt M, Bosselaers J, De Koninck H (2013) Spiders of Crete (Araneae). A catalogue of all currently known species from the Greek island of Crete. Nieuwsbrief van de Belgische Arachnologische Vereniging 28 (Suppl. 1): 1-147 pdf

Branco V V, Morano E, Cardoso P (2019) An update to the Iberian spider checklist (Araneae). Zootaxa 4614: 201-254 pdf

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 pdf

Fusco T, Fattorini S, Fortini L, Ruzzier E, Di Giulio A (2024) Ground spiders (Chelicerata, Araneae) of an urban green space: intensive sampling in a protected area of Rome (Italy) reveals a high diversity and new records to the Italian territory. Biodiversity Data Journal 12(e122896): 1-181 pdf

García J, Suárez D (2019) A spider survey in a protected area of La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain) reveals five new records for the island. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 57: 69-76 pdf

Heimer S, Nentwig W (1991) Spinnen Mitteleuropas. Paul Parey Berlin pdf

Le Peru B (2007) Catalogue et répartition des araignées de France. Revue Arachnologique 16: 1-468 pdf

Lecigne S (2018b) Récits de chasses aranéologiques récentes dans plusieurs départements de France. Redécouverte de Philodromus buchari Kubcová, 2004 (Araneae: Philodromidae) et confirmation de la présence de Theridion harmsi Wunderlich, 2011 (Araneae: Theridiidae). Nieuwsbrief van de Belgische Arachnologische Vereniging 33: 59-99 pdf

Naumova M (2020) Descriptions of two new spider species, with new data on the Albanian arachnofauna (Arachnida: Araneae, Opiliones, Pseudoscorpiones and Scorpiones). Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 72: 3-12 pdf

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 pdf

Pesarini C (unpubl.)

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 pdf

Wiehle H (1953) Spinnentiere oder Arachnoidea (Araneae), IX. Orthognatha-Cribellata-Haplogynae, Entelegynae (Pholcidae, Zodariidae, Oxyopidae, Mimetidae, Nesticidae). Die Tierwelt Deutschlands 42: 1-150 pdf

WSC (2025) World Spider Catalog. Version 26. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (28.2.2025) doi: 10.24436/2 pdf

Updates
07-04-2025 Distribution update Detail
07-04-2025 Distribution insert Detail
07-06-2024 Image insert
15-07-2020 Distribution update Detail
28-03-2020 Distribution insert Detail
22-03-2019 Image insert
20-09-2018 Image insert
02-03-2015 Distribution update Detail
27-11-2014 Distribution update Detail
15-10-2013 Distribution update Detail