| Segestria bavarica (C. L. Koch, 1843) |
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Scientific name: Segestria bavarica (C. L. Koch, 1843) Common name: French name: Order: Araneae Family: Segestriidae Size: Females: 10-13 mm; Males: 9-11 mm. Biotope: Holes in walls, crevices in rocks, under tree barks. Web: Tubular retreat. From 10 to 15 silk-threads radiate from the entrance hole and are used for detection and localization of preys. Observation period: From spring to autumn. Geographic area: Europe, north to Denmark. Western Asia, east to Azerbaijan. |
The spiders of the Segestriidae family are medium size spiders, showing six eyes. The body is covered with short and dense hairs. The three first pairs of legs are oriented forwards , the fourth one in oriented backwards. Segestria bavarica shows a dark brown and shiny cephalothorax covered with dense pale hairs. The abdomen is whitish and shows a dorsal alignment of dark brown square-shaped patches. These patches are cut in their middle by pale longitudinal line. The legs are ringed. Segestria senoculata, which is slightly smaller, only shows sparse hairs on the cephalothorax which then appears darker. The dorsal patches are not cut in two parts by any pale line. The rings on the legs are much more spaced that on Segestria bavarica. Metatarsus 1 shows three ventral spines on Segestria senoculata and only two on Segestria bavarica. Segestria florentina, which is much larger, has a darker abdomen and chelicerae with a green metallic sheen. There is a possible confusion with Segestria bavarica and juvenile Segestria florentina. I haven't found any simple visual key to tell apart juvenile Segestria florentina and adult Segestria bavarica. Both species show two ventral spines on metatarsus 1. |
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The dorsal patches cut by a pale line and the thinly ringed legs are the criteria I have used to list this spider as Segestria bavarica. Of course there is still a remaining doubt with juvenile Segestria florentina. |
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The dense pale hairs covering the cephalothorax are clearly visible on this picture. |
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I have tried to shoot a front view to get a picture of the layout of the 6 eyes. I need to try again with a better lighting to get something more visible. |
André Bon March 2016