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Lathys stigmatisata (Menge, 1869), Ballus rufipes (Simon, 1868), Synageles hilarulus (C.L. Koch, 1846), Phrurolithus nigrinus (Simon, 1878) and Phycosoma inornatum (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1861): five spiders new to the fauna of Luxembourg (Araneae: Theridiidae, Dyctiniidae, Phrurolithidae, Salticidae) with records of other rare species

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Abstract

Five spider species are recorded for the first time from Luxembourg. Their habi-tats are described. New data are presented for another three species. The importance of the former open-cast iron ore quarries of southwestern Luxembourg for thermophilous spiders is emphasised
Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 122 (2020) 211
Lathys stigmatisata (Menge, 1869), Ballus rupes (Simon,
1868), Synageles hilarulus (C.L. Koch, 1846), Phrurolithus
nigrinus (Simon, 1878) and Phycosoma inornatum (O.
Pickard-Cambridge, 1861): ve spiders new to the fauna
of Luxembourg (Araneae: eridiidae, Dyctiniidae,
Phrurolithidae, Salticidae) with records of other rare species
Raoul Gerend
35, rue de Hellange L-3487 Dudelange, Luxembourg (raoul.gerend@pt.lu)
Gerend, R., 2020. Lathys stigmatisata (Menge, 1869), Ballus rupes (Simon, 1868), Synageles
hilarulus (C.L. Koch, 1846), Phrurolithus nigrinus (Simon, 1878) and Phycosoma inornatum
(O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1861): ve spiders new to the fauna of Luxembourg (Araneae:
eridiidae, Dyctiniidae, Phrurolithidae, Salticidae) with records of other rare species. Bul-
letin de la Société des naturalistes luxembourgeois 122: 211-215.
Published online 26 August 2020 (ISSN 2716-750X).
Abstract. Five spider species are recorded for the rst time from Luxembourg. eir habi-
tats are described. New data are presented for another three species. e importance of the
former open-cast iron ore quarries of southwestern Luxembourg for thermophilous spiders
is emphasised.
1. Introduction
e rst catalogue of the spider fauna of Lux-
embourg published in 2019 (Kreuels et al.)
lists 495 species while the authors estimate
that roughly 600 to 700 species should rea-
sonably be expected to occur in the Grand-
Duchy. ey consider Luxembourg’s spider
fauna to be rather under-recorded, due to a
lack of systematic collecting throughout the
dierent natural regions and habitat types
of the country. In 2017 the author started
investigating a range of sites, most of them
in the larger area around the town of Dudel-
ange, with the aim to study their spider fauna.
Indeed, while studying the beetle fauna of
dry limestone grassland in this part of the
country, the quite impressive number of dif-
ferent spider species encountered in the traps
prompted the idea to identify the species and
build up a good working knowledge in the
eld of spider identication. is paper pre-
sents the rst results of the eld work carried
out over the last two years. Five species new
to Luxembourg are recorded while additional
data for several other rare species are given.
2. Material and methods
Spiders were collected using a range of con-
ventional methods which shall be specied
in the respective species’ paragraph. e
spiders were then preserved in 70% isopro-
panol or 70% ethanol. All the material is
kept in the author’s collection. Identica-
tions are based on Roberts (1996), Bee et
al. (2017) and the following websites: Oger
(2019), Nentwig et al. (2019) and Wiki der
Arachnologischen Gesellscha (2019).
3. Results
eridiidae Sundevall, 1833
Phycosoma inornatum (O. Pickard-Cam-
bridge, 1861)
Gostingen “Op der Bäämchesels”, 49°37’03.3”
N, 6°20’49.9” E, 319 m a.s.l., 16.04.2019, 1 female
juv., under stone, leg. R. Gerend.
is theridiid spider is distributed all over
Europe including Scandinavia, the United
212 Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 122 (2020)
Kingdom and Ireland but it is not a common
species. According to Staudt et al. (2019) the
species is very rare in Germany although it
has been recently found in the Sarre region
and in French Lorraine very close to their
borders with Luxembourg (www.alt.delat-
tinia.de/GM/GM_Leuk.htm). Staudt (2019)
considers it a very warmth-loving species
which, he thinks, is currently expanding its
range into the Luxembourg-Sarre-region
by way of the Moselle valley. In the UK it is
mostly associated with lowland heath and
coastal grassland (British Arachnological
Society, 2019)
In Luxembourg the author found a juvenile
female under a stone at the foot of a drys-
tone wall in a side valley of the Moselle
near Gostingen. In fact, the site is part of
what is better known as the nature reserve
Wéngertsbierg or “Canecher Wéngertsbierg”
(Canach vineyard), the south-facing ank of
a hill with former (and recently re-created
organic) vineyards, scrub and orchards.
Dyctiniidae O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1871
Lathys stigmatisata (Menge, 1869)
Dudelange “Echerdallerbierg” (better known
locally as “Roudebierg”), 49°28’17.6” N,
6°05’30.5” E, 356 m a.s.l., 14.04. - 05.05.2018, 2
adult males, pitfall trap, 05.05. - 27.05.2018, 1
adult male, pitfall trap, leg. R. Gerend.
According to Kreuels et al. (2019), Lathys
humilis (Blackwall, 1855) is the only species of
the genus Lathys thus far known from Luxem-
bourg. A second species, L. stigmatisata, has
been recorded in Germany, very close to the
border with Luxembourg, in the Our valley
near Waldhof-Falkenstein (Staudt et al. 2019).
A total of three males, readily identiable by
the characteristic shape of the tibial apophysis,
were caught in pitfall traps on a south-facing
steep slope with limestone grassland and scrub
near Dudelange in 2018. e vegetation of this
site is dominated by typical species of this type
of grassland, such as meadow brome Bromus
erectus and sheep fescue Festuca ovina gr. e
specimens were caught in a series of traps on
a smaller patch of grassland surrounded by
limestone beech wood and scrub. e ground
is well-drained, and the site can become very
dry and parched in summer.
Phrurolithidae Banks, 1892
Phrurolithus nigrinus (Simon, 1878)
Dudelange “Gaalgebierg” (“Haard” nature
reserve), 49°29’04.4” N, 6°03’40.4” E, 400 m a.s.l.,
23.04.2019, 2 ad. males and 1 ad. female, under
stone, leg. R. Gerend.
Phrurolithus nigrinus inhabits Western
Europe but does not occur in the British
Isles. It is known from France, Italy, the
Iberian Peninsula, Switzerland, parts of
the western Balkans and Germany where it
seems to be conned to a small region to the
west of Lake Constance (Nentwig et al, 2019
and Staudt et al, 2019). Staudt (2014) men-
tions records from Pagny-la-Blanche-Côte
in the Meuse département made in May
2008 (cf. also: www.alt.delattinia.de/GM/
GM_Pagny-La-Blanche-Cote.htm) where
a couple of very steep south-facing slopes,
partially covered in Jurassic limestone
scree, harbour an exceptionally rich array of
warmth- and drought-loving species
Near Dudelange the species occurs in the
“Haard” nature reserve, where 3 specimens
(2 males, 1 female) were found in 2019,
under stones in an area of heaped-up barren
rock on a former open-cast iron ore mining
site with very sparse vegetation of mainly
moss and a few grasses. Synageles hilaru-
lus (C.L. Koch, 1846) has been found only
a hundred metres away. e nature of this
habitat is in line with Blick et al. (2008)
who describe sites inhabited by the species
in southwestern Germany as “open, dry-
warm and mostly rocky habitats ….. such as
sparsely vegetated vineyards and occasion-
ally limestone grassland”.
Salticidae Blackwall, 1841
Ballus rupes (Simon, 1868) (Fig. 1)
Dudelange “Roudebiergerheck”, 49°28’16.9” N
6°05’17.8” E, 345 m a.s.l., 09.06.2019, 1 ad. female
beaten from shrub, leg. R. Gerend.
is is another warmth-loving species (Bell-
mann, 2001) distributed through Western
and Mediterranean Europe (Nentwig et al.,
2019). In Germany it is above all a south-
western species with records concentrated
in climatically warmer areas of the Rhine
and Moselle valleys (Staudt et al., 2019).
Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 122 (2020) 213
Staudt (2014) has found this jumping spider
in dry grassland habitats in French Lorraine
in the valleys of rivers Meuse and Moselle,
none of them being very close to the border
with Luxembourg.
In June 2019 the author beat a single adult
female from low scrub in the westernmost
part of the “Roudebierg” slope. e much
commoner sibling species Ballus chalybaeus
(Walckenaer, 1802) was also present at this
site, as well as a few of the conspicuously col-
oured juveniles of Ballus rupes. e whole
slope is dominated by dry limestone grass-
land and species-rich scrub as well as copses
of thermophilous beech wood.
e species has also been recorded in
the French Moselle valley just across the
border with Luxembourg at the “Stromb-
erg” site near the village of Contz-les-Bains
(49°26’58.2” N, 6°21’16.5” E at 279 m a.s.l.)
at the foot of the clis of the Muschelkalk
quarry face overlooking the river valley. e
site is south-facing and famous for its diverse
ora and fauna. is jumping spider should
thus be looked for in other places with warm
and dry conditions in this area, especially
the nearby nature reserves of “Hammels-
berg” in Germany or Montenach in France.
Synageles hilarulus (C.L. Koch, 1846)
Dudelange “Gaalgebierg” (”Haard” nature
reserve), 49°29’03.8” N, 6°03’46.9” E, 400 m a.s.l.,
18.04.2019, 1 ad. male, leg. R. Gerend.
Synageles hilarulus is yet another warmth-
loving jumping spider. It has a very large
Eurasian range extending through Russia to
the Far East and reaching Japan and Korea
(Nentwig et al., 2019). In Germany it seems
to be very rare, with widely scattered records
from southern and eastern parts of the coun-
try (Staudt et al., 2019). It has been recently
recorded from the Moselle valley near Jézain-
ville and from several sites in the valley of
Fig. 1. Ballus rupes, male, F-57 Stromberg near Contz-
les-Bains, scale bar 1 mm, photo R. Gerend.
Fig. 2. Trochosa robusta, adult female, “Haard” near
L-Dudelange, photo R. Gerend.
Fig. 3. Gnaphosa lucifuga, subadult female, “Haard
near L-Dudelange, photo R. Gerend.
214 Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 122 (2020)
the Meuse (Staudt, 2014) in France. All these
sites are not very far from Luxembourg’s
southern border. In April 2019 a single male
could be caught while scrutinizing an area
of very dry waste rock in a former open-cast
iron ore quarry near Dudelange. e vegeta-
tion is very sparse and made up mainly by
lichen crusts, moss cushions and mouse-ear
hawkweed Pilosella ocinarum as well as
a few scattered wisps of grass. Insolation is
high and the place is sheltered by secondary
growth of birch, sallow and hazel while the
heaped-up rock ensures good drainage, thus
providing favourable conditions for a xero-
thermophilous fauna and ora. e site is
also noticeable for the presence of other rare
spiders such as Gnaphosa lucifuga (Walck-
enaer, 1802) and Trochosa robusta (Simon,
1876) (see below).
Records of other noteworthy species
Cheiracanthium pennyi O.Pickard-Cam-
bridge, 1873
Dudelange “Echerdallerbierg” (better known
locally as “Roudebierg”), 49°28’17” N, 6°05’42.3”
E, 363 m a.s.l., 1 ad. male, swept from herbaceous
vegetation, 27.05.2018, leg. R. Gerend.
is species is known from Europe, extend-
ing into Russia and Central Asia and reach-
ing China, as well as from Turkey and Iran.
It is associated with herbaceous vegetation of
open, dry and warm habitats (Nentwig et al.,
2019). In the region around Luxembourg it
has thus far only been recorded from French
Lorraine near Metz (Staudt, 2014) and
Volmerange-les-Mines (Staudt et al. 2019),
hence very close to the border with Lux-
embourg and less than 2.5 km from the site
reported here. In 2018 the author conrmed
its presence near Volmerange (49°27’96.3”
N, 6°05’21.3” E at 402 m a.s.l.) and it became
clear that it would be found sooner rather
than later on the Luxembourgish side of the
border. According to the Luxembourg Natu-
ral History Museum’s Recorder database, the
species has already been found in 1991 in
the “Aarnescht” nature reserve (Bouhy leg.)
but the whereabouts of the specimen(s) is
currently unknown.
e habitat near Dudelange is a south-facing
slope with dry limestone grassland, in the
process of being invaded by scrub. e spot
where the single male specimen was swept is
dominated by taller stands of meadow brome
Bromus erectus and common meadow grass
Poa pratensis. e species co-exists on this
site with Cheiracanthium punctorium (Vil-
lers, 1789).
Trochosa robusta (Simon, 1876) (Lycosidae)
and Gnaphosa lucifuga (Walckenaer, 1802)
(Gnaphosidae)
Dudelange “Gaalgebierg” (”Haard” nature
reserve), 49°29’03.8” N, 6°03’46.9” E, 400 m a.s.l.,
21.04.2019 for both species, leg. R. Gerend.
Recent records of these two rather large and
impressive spiders are from the former open-
cast iron ore quarries in Dudelange’s “Haard
nature reserve, where specimens could be
found hiding away under at stones in spring
and early summer 2019 (cf. g. 2 and 3).
While Gnaphosa lucifuga has been recorded
in the same area by J. Cungs and identied by
S. Christian (Recorder database MNHNL) in
2014 and 2015, Trochosa robusta had not pre-
viously been found in these quarries, disused
since the mid-1970s. e exact location con-
sists of areas of heaped-up barren limestone
rock with only the thinnest layer of topsoil
and a sparse vegetation of drought-tolerant
species (as described above). Up to now, only
one more species of the genus Gnaphosa,
i.e. G. lugubris (C.L. Koch, 1839), has been
recorded from Luxembourg, with all known
records being from dry limestone grasslands
on Keuper marlstone which are so charac-
teristic for eastern and central Luxembourg
(Recorder database MNHNL: leg. B. Augen-
stein (2009-2011) and Y. Bouhy (1989-1990)).
4. Discussion
ese newly recorded species bring the tally
to 500 species of spiders currently known
from Luxembourg. It is likely that more
species will be discovered as certain habi-
tat types, such as wetlands, but also the few
remnants of heath on sandy soils, will be
subjected to a thorough investigation. e
further arachnological exploration of the
former iron ore quarries in the south-west
looks certainly promising too, as they are
Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 122 (2020) 215
the only areas in Luxembourg le with siz-
able tracts of open rocky ground, as well as
being a natural gateway for warmth- and/or
drought-loving species expanding their cur-
rent range northwards in the wake of future
climatic warming.
Acknowledgments
e author wishes to thank Svenja Christian
(MNHNL) for her support while making his rst
steps in the eld of spider identication as well as
for the review of the manuscript.
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... D'abord par Bertkau au 19 ème siècle, puis redécouverte par Bauchhenss & Stumpf (1992). Cependant, toutes les mentions allemandes se situent dans des zones thermophiles et basses en altitude dans la vallée du Rhin (Gerend 2020). ...
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Five first and one second record of spiders for Switzerland (Araneae). − Araniella proxima (Kulczyński, 1885), Ballus rufipes (Simon, 1868), Porrhoclubiona leucaspis (Simon, 1932), Robertus mazaurici (Simon, 1901) and Steatoda nobilis (Thorell, 1875) are mentioned for the first time in Switzerland, and Olios argelasius (Walckenaer, 1806) for the second time. These are recent captures in the canton of Geneva made between 2019 and 2022, except for one which comes from a 1973 capture and was discovered in the Natural History Museum of Geneva. The distribution, ecology, circumstances of capture and a discussion of each species are presented.
Spider and harvestman recording scheme website. srs. britishspiders.org.com [accessed
British Arachnological Society, 2019. Spider and harvestman recording scheme website. srs. britishspiders.org.com [accessed December 2019].
Les araignées de Belgique et de France
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Oger, P. 2019. Les araignées de Belgique et de France. https://www.arachno.piwigo.com [accessed December 2019]
Zur Bedeutung der Trockenhänge an Maas und Mosel für die Wanderung thermophiler Spinnenarten über Lothringen in die Saar-Region (Arachnida: Araneae)
  • A Staudt
Staudt, A. 2014. Zur Bedeutung der Trockenhänge an Maas und Mosel für die Wanderung thermophiler Spinnenarten über Lothringen in die Saar-Region (Arachnida: Araneae).