| Clubiona comta (C.L. Koch, 1839) |
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Scientific name: Clubiona comta (C.L. Koch, 1839) Common name: French name: Order: Araneae Family: Clubionidae Size: 3-6 mm. Biotope: Trees and bushes, in the foliage, on barks or moss. Web: No web used for hunting. They shelter inside a silken retreat. Observation period: March to October for males, all year round for females. Geographic area: Europe, North Africa, Turkey, the Caucasus. |
Spiders of the Clubionidae family are active during the night and wander to find preys. They shelter inside a silken retreat located under rocks, under leaves or under tree bark. The eight eyes of similar size are rounded. The four fore eyes (lower row) are regularly aligned along a short straight segment. They are rather close from each other and the gap between two eyes is clearly shorter than the eye diameter. The four hind eyes are more distant from each other. The gap between two eyes is clearly longer than the eye diameter (I have measured a value of 1.5 to 2 diameters). This eye row draws a light curve. The spinneret are conical-shaped. There are 30 species listed as present in France and all of them belong to the Clubiona genus. You cannot identify most of these species with only pictures. However you can recognize Clubiona comta with its small size and its abdomen showing a reddish cardiac patch ending with a sharp point and followed by pale chevrons. Clubiona corticalis also shows the same pattern, but it is a more greyish brown colour. This spider is also significantly larger in size. The cephalothorax is pale brown to yellowish with a lighter coloured centre. |
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I have used my 24mm lenses, reverse mounted to get a high magnification in order to photograph this very small spider. This picture is a merge of 3 shots. The shape and colour of the cardiac patch with the small size of this spider (estimated between 3.5 and 4 mm) lead to the Clubiona comta species. |
André Bon December 2021