Eresus walckenaeri

Eresus walckenaerius is a species of ladybird spider from the eastern Mediterranean.

Eresus walckenaeri
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Eresidae
Genus: Eresus
Species:
E. walckenaeri
Binomial name
Eresus walckenaeri
Brullé, 1832
Synonyms

Eresus walckenaer
Eresus audouin
Eresus theis
Eresus ctenizoides
Eresus luridus
Eresus puniceus
Eresus pruinosus
Eresus siculus
Erythrophora punicea

Description

While males are very similar to those of Eresus sandaliatus or Eresus cinnaberinus the females are up to 4 cm long. The females often have a red band on their opisthosoma. Adult males can be found from April to June.[1]

Habits

Their strikingly pink webs are built below rocks. One egg sac contains several hundred eggs, and spiderlings seem to disperse much more than other Eresus species (using ballooning), so that they are not found in large clusters.

Distribution

This species is found on the southern Balkans, in southern Italy, in Turkey and on islands of the Aegean Sea.

Name

The species name is in honor of Charles Athanase Walckenaer.

Subspecies

Eresus walckenaeri moerens C. L. Koch, 1846 (Afghanistan)

References
  1. Bellmann, H. (1997). Kosmos-Atlas Spinnentiere Europas. Kosmos.
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