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Ground Spiders.
Morphology. The adult spiders 2–18 mm long; slender-bodied to of medium build; decidedly short-legged; with eight eyes. The eyes in two horizontal rows of 4 (the posterior medians usually oval); all clear and glassy. The palpal organs of the male of complex structure and enclosed by the specialized, hollowed tarsal segment (the cymbium). The front legs not short and stout. Metatarsus IV of the females without a calamistrum. Tarsal claws 2. The tarsi with claw tufts. The abdomen conspicuously patterned dorsally, or plain dorsally; with a single, inconspicuous tracheal spiracle. The tracheal spiracles close to the spinnerets. The anterior spinnerets usually wide apart (so that the medians are readily visible). The abdomen of the females without a cribellum. The reproductive openings of the females associated with an epigyne.
The adults constructing neither a terrestrial silken retreat nor an underwater diving-bell; not making snare-webs; actively pursuing their prey (hunting on the ground, mainly feeding on other spiders).
Representation in Britain and Ireland. 33 species in Britain; in the genera Callilepis, Drassodes, Drassyllus, Gnaphosa, Haplodrassus, Micaria, Phaeocedus, Scotophaeus, Trachyzelotes, Urozelotes, and Zelotes.
Comments. The posterior median eyes are usually oval, and the cylindrical, slightly longer anterior spinners are usually separated, so that the median spinners are readily visible; but Scotophaeus and some Zelotes have circular posterior median eyes, and in Micaria the anterior spinners are not separated.
Illustrations. • Zelotes and Drassyllus. 63, Zelotes sp. (the illustration representing either Z. apricorum (L. Koch) or Z. subterraneus (C.L. Koch): a, female; b, male; c, palpal organs of the male; d, cocoons - the white one still containing eggs, the young having exited from the pink one. 64, Drassyllus pusillus (C. L. Koch): a, female; b, male; c, palpal organs of the male; d, the spine, in lateral view. 65, Zelotes electus (C.L. Koch), female. From Blackwall (1861). • Haplodrassus and Scotophaeus. 66, Haplodrassus signifer (C.L. Koch): a, immature female; b, male; c, palpal organs of the male; d, digital organs from above, showing the position of the large radial apophysis. 67, Scotophaeus blackwalli (Thorell): a, female; b, male; c, palpal organs of the male. 68, Haplodrassus silvestris (Bl.), female. From Blackwall (1861). • Drassodes cupreus, D. lapidosus and Haplodrassus silvestris. 68, Haplodrassus silvestris (Bl.), female. 69, Drassodes cupreus (Bl.): a, female; b, male; c, eyes; d, maxillae and labium; e, palpal organs of the male. 70, Drassodes lapidosus (Walck.), male; a, its palpal organs. From Blackwall (1861). • Micaria pulicaria. 72 and 73, Micaria pulicaria (Sund.). 72, a male, with a detail of its palpal organs. 73, another male and a female: a, female; b, male; c, palpal organs of the male. From Blackwall (1861). Fig. 72 represents Blackwall’s species micans, while 73 represents his species nitens, both of which are currently reduced to synonymy with M. pulicaria.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2003 onwards. The spider families of Britain and Ireland. Version: 5th August 2019. delta-intkey.com’.
