Atypus piceus (Sulzer, 1776)
Description
Palp male: femur with longitudinal ridge in a depression. Vulva with 5-11 receptacula seminis, in various sizes. Prosoma female: dark brown, male: dark brown or red-brown to black. Sternum with dark median field, first pair of sigilla ± one diameter apart from margin of sternum. Metatarsus IV male: dorsally with 2 or more spines. Tarsus male: lighter. Opisthosoma female: grey-brown, male: mostly darker than prosoma. Posterior spinnerets only appearing 4 segmented, segment border is pretended by pigment-less part in dorsal view, distinctly 3 segments in ventral view.
Body length male: 9 mmBody length female: 10-15 mm
Additional information
In dry meadows and slopes with scarce vegetation, up to 1200 m. Silken tube for capturing prey above ground 7-9 cm long, retreat tube in soil, 20-25 cm deep, diameter 12-15 mm, builds colonies, 70-160 hatchlings per female per year.
This species can bite humans. Pain has been described as a light burning sensation with some associated local redness, disappearing soon.
Distribution
Phenology
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
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Figures
Pedipalp
(Loksa 1969)
Pedipalp, prolateral view
(Geci unpubl.)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Geci unpubl.)
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Geci unpubl.)
Bulbus
(Schwendinger 1990)
Vulva
(Miller 1947)
Vulva
(Schwendinger 1990)
Vulva
(Loksa 1969)
Vulva, dorsal view
(Bali et al. 2020)
Sternum
(Kraus & Baur 1974)
Chelicerae (upper juv. and f, lower m), lateral view
(Emerit 1984)
Posterior spinneret
(Kraus & Baur 1974)
Spinnerets
(Miller 1947)
Distribution List
"No references" does not mean that the species does not occur in this country, but that we have not yet inserted the reference for it. We are working on it.
References
Arnold K (2001) Beitrag zur Spinnenfauna (Arachnida, Araneae) des Fürstentums Liechtenstein. Berichte der Botanisch-Zoologischen Gesellschaft Liechtenstein-Sargans-Werdenberg 28: 211-244 
Bali L, Andrési D, Szinetár C, Tuba K (2020) Betekintés a Bejcgyertyánosi farkas-erdő talajközeli pókfaunájába [Observation of the epigeic spider fauna of the Bejcgyertyános wolf forest]. Biológia Savaria Természettudományi és Sporttudományi Közlemények 18: 59-74
Blagoev G, Deltshev C, Lazarov S, Naumova M (2018) The spiders (Araneae) of Bulgaria. Version: August 2018. National Museum of Natural History, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Online at http://www.nmnhs.com/spiders-bulgaria/ (accessed on 10.9.2018)
Bosmans R, Van Keer K (2017) Een herziene soortenlijst van de Belgische spinnen (Araneae). Nieuwsbrief van de Belgische Arachnologische Vereniging 32: 39-69
Emerit M (1984) Les glandes tibiales des Telemidae: une structure inédite localisée sur l'appendice locomoteur des araignées. Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences Paris (3) 299: 1-4
Geci D (unpubl.) .
Hermann E (1998) Die Spinnen (Araneae) ausgewählter Halbtrockenrasen im Osten Luxemburgs. Bulletin de la Société des naturalistes Luxembourgeois 99: 189-199
Komnenov M (2014) Spider fauna of the Osogovo Mt. Range, Northeastern Macedonia. Fauna Balkana 2: 1-267
Kostanjšek R, Kuntner M (2015) Araneae Sloveniae: a national spider species checklist. ZooKeys 474: 1-91
Kraus O, Baur H (1974) Die Atypidae der West-Paläarktis. Systematik, Verbreitung und Biologie (Arach.: Araneae). Abhandlungen und Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg (NF) 17: 85-116
Kreuels M, Staudt A, Christian S (2019) Die Spinnenfauna von Luxemburg – eine Zusammenstellung der Nachweise aus den Jahren 1906-2018 (Arachnida: Araneae). Bulletin de la Société des naturalistes luxembourgeois 121: 203-230
Loksa I (1969) Pokok I-Araneae I. Fauna Hungariae 97: 1-133
Miller F (1947) Pavoucí zvírena hadcových stepí u Mohelna. Archiv Svazu na Výzkum a Ochranu Přírody i Krajiny v Zemi Moravskoslezské 7: 1-107
Nentwig W, Gnädinger M, Fuchs J, Ceschi A (2013) A two year study of verified spider bites in Switzerland and a review of the European spider bite literature. Toxicon 73: 104-110
Pantini P, Isaia M (2019) Araneae.it: the online catalog of Italian spiders, with addenda on other arachnid orders occurring in Italy (Arachnida: Araneae, Opiliones, Palpigradi, Pseudoscorpionida, Scorpiones, Solifugae). Fragmenta Entomologica 51: 127-152
Polchaninova N, Prokopenko E (2019) An updated checklist of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Left-Bank Ukraine. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 57: 60-64 & App
Ponomarev A V (2022) Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of the southeast of the Russian Plain: catalogue, the fauna specific features. SSC RAS Publishers, Rostov-on-Don, 640 pp.
Rozwałka R, Stanska M (2008) Check-list of spiders (Araneae) of Poland. 1. December 2008. online at http://www.arachnologia.edu.pl/en/species/8-spiders-of-poland.html
Růžička V, Řezáč M (2022a) Seznam pavouků České republiky. List of spiders of the Czech Republic. Online at https://www.arachnology.cz/seznam-pavouku-cr-26.html and https://www.arachnology.cz/en/seznam-pavouku-cr-26.html
Samu F, Szinetár C (1999) Bibliographic check list of the Hungarian spider fauna. Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 11: 161-184
Schwendinger P J (1990) A synopsis of the genus Atypus (Araneae, Atypidae). Zoologica Scripta 19: 353-366
Vasiliev A I, Mikhailov K G (2023) Annotated checklist of spiders (Araneae) of the Republic of Moldova. Invertebrate Zoology 20: 307-342
Vrenozi B, Jäger P (2013) Spiders (Araneae) from Albania and Kosovo in the collection of Carl Friedrich Roewer. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 46: 17-26
WSC (2025) World Spider Catalog. Version 26. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (28.2.2025) doi: 10.24436/2