Holocnemus pluchei (Scopoli, 1763)
Description
Male
Prosoma whitish, often with dark longitudinal band. Sternum black. Chelicerae with lateral stridulatory ridges. Legs: femur I with a prolateral series of 30 to 36 spines. Femur with dark spots, femur I and tibia I ventrally with numerous, short spines. Opisthosoma whitish, dorsally with vague spots, ventrally with black longitudinal band..
Body length male: 5-7 mmFemale
Palp light brownish, tarsus darker, tibia and tarsus widened. Colouration whitish, prosoma often with dark band, sternum black, with a strong tubercle between coxae IV. Eyes: AME less than one diameter apart. Opisthosoma dorsally with a median red-brown band, ventrally with a wide longitudinal dark band. Opisthosoma oval, without extension behind.
Body length female: 5-7.5 mmAdditional information
Under rocks, in warm terrain, in caves and basements, large webs with irregular meshes.
Since a few decades, this species shows some spreading tendencies within Europe. Nevertheless, it is not listed as alien or invasive, because it is native to Europe.
Troglophile species (Mammola et al. 2018b)
Distribution
Phenology
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
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Figures
Pedipalp
(Pesarini unpubl.)
Pedipalp and prosoma, lateral view
(Huber 1995)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Huber 1995)
Pedipalp, prolateral view
(Huber 1995)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Kovács et al. 2006)
Pedipalp, prolateral view
(Benhadi-Marín et al. 2013)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Benhadi-Marín et al. 2013)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Taberlet unpubl.)
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Taberlet unpubl.)
Pedipalp, prolateral view
(Taberlet unpubl.)
Pedipalp, dorsal view
(Huber 2022)
Pedipalp, prolateral view
(Huber 2022)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Huber 2022)
Bulbus, dorsal view
(Huber 2022)
Bulbus, prolateral view
(Huber 2022)
Bulbus, retrolateral view
(Huber 2022)
Bulbus, ventral view
(Huber 2022)
Procursus, dorsal view
(Huber 2022)
Procursus, prolateral view
(Huber 2022)
Procursus, retrolateral view
(Huber 2022)
Vulva, dorsal view
(Taberlet unpubl.)
Chelicerae, frontal view
(Huber 1995)
Femur I, retrolateral view
(Wunderlich 2024)
Epigyne, ventral view
(Kovács et al. 2006)
Epigyne, ventral view
(Benhadi-Marín et al. 2013)
Epigyne, ventral view
(Taberlet unpubl.)
Epigyne, lateral view
(Taberlet unpubl.)
Epigyne, lateral view
(Huber 2022)
Epigyne, ventral view
(Huber 2022)
Epigyne, ventral view
(Huber 2022)
Epigyne, ventral view
(Huber 2022)
Epigyne
(Zarikian et al. 2022)
Vulva, ventral view
(Taberlet unpubl.)
Vulva, dorsal view
(Huber 2022)
Vulva, dorsal view
(Huber 2022)
Vulva, ventral view
(Huber 2022)
Vulva, ventral view
(Huber 2022)
Chelicerae, frontal view
(Huber 1995)
Opisthosoma, ventral view
(Huber 2022)
Opisthosoma, dorsal view
(Jäger 2000a)
Habitus, ventral view
(Jäger 2000a)
Habitus, dorsal view
(Kovács et al. 2006)
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
Barrientos J A, Febrer B (2017) Arañas (Arachnida, Araneae) de Menorca (Islas Baleares, España). Nuevos datos. Revista Ibérica de Aracnología 31: 8-24 
Benhacene R, Adjami A, Hadjeb A, Kermiche K, Ouakid M L (2023) Bibliographic checklist of the Algerian spider fauna (Araneae). Zootaxa 5352: 301-357
Benhadi-Marín J, Barrientos J A , Ferrández M A, Henriques S, Morano E (2013) Second annotated list of selected spider families (Arachnida: Araneae) held at the University of León (Spain). Revista Ibérica de Aracnología 22: 71-78
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)
Blick T, Finch O-D, Harms K H, Kiechle J, Kielhorn K-H , Kreuels M, Malten A, Martin D, Muster C, Nährig D, Platen R, Rödel I, Scheidler M, Staudt A, Stumpf H, Tolke D (2016) Rote Liste und Gesamtartenliste der Spinnen (Arachnida: Araneae) Deutschlands. 3. Fassung, Stand April 2008, einzelne Änderungen und Nachträge bis August 2015. Naturschutz und Biologische Vielfalt 70/4: 383-510
Bosmans R, Van Keer J, Russell-Smith A, Hadjiconstantis M, Komnenov M, Bosselaers J, Huber S, McCowan D, Snazell R, Decae A, Zoumides C, Kielhorn K-H, Oger P (2019c) Spiders of Cyprus (Araneae). A catalogue of all currently known species from Cyprus. Newsletter of the Belgian Arachnological Society 34, Suppl. 1: 1-173
Bosmans R, Van Keer K (2017) Een herziene soortenlijst van de Belgische spinnen (Araneae). Nieuwsbrief van de Belgische Arachnologische Vereniging 32: 39-69
Branco V V, Morano E, Cardoso P (2019) An update to the Iberian spider checklist (Araneae). Zootaxa 4614: 201-254
Danışman T, Kunt K B, Özkütük R S, Coşar İ (2025a) The checklist of the spiders of Turkey. Version 2025 [last updated 22 July 2025], online at http://www.spidersofturkey.info
Demircan Aksan N, Topçu A (2022c) A preliminary checklist of the spider fauna of European Türkiye. Serket 19: 39-56
Elkrew H, Hamza A, Ghana S, Shaibi T, Swehli A I, Elmareme H, Ahmad A (2024) Checklist of the spiders (Araneae) of Libya. Pakistan Journal of Life and Social Sciences 22: 19346-19369
Gajić I, Grbić G (2016) Further notes on spiders from the Special Nature Reserve Zasavica (Serbia). Arachnologische Mitteilungen 51: 49-56
Geci D, Naumova M (2021b) A preliminary checklist of the spiders of Kosovo (Arachnida: Araneae). Ecologia Balkanica, Special Edition 4: 11-28
Helsdingen P J van (2025a) Catalogus van de Nederlandse spinnen. Versie 2025.1. 249 pp.
Huber B A (1995) Copulatory mechanism in Holocnemus pluchei and Pholcus opilionoides, with notes on male cheliceral apophyses and stridulatory organs in Pholcidae (Araneae). Acta Zoologica, Stockholm 76: 291-300
Huber B A (2022) Revisions of Holocnemus and Crossopriza: the spotted-leg clade of Smeringopinae (Araneae, Pholcidae). European Journal of Taxonomy 795: 1-241
Jäger P (2000a) Selten nachgewiesene Spinnenarten aus Deutschland (Arachnida: Araneae). Arachnologische Mitteilungen 19: 49-57
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
Kovács G, Szinetár C, Eichardt J (2006) Holocnemus pluchei (Scopoli, 1763) (Araneae: Pholcidae) in Hungary. Állattani Közlemények 91: 9-18
Lavery A (2019) A revised checklist of the spiders of Great Britain and Ireland. Arachnology 18: 196-212
Le Peru B (2007) Catalogue et répartition des araignées de France. Revue Arachnologique 16: 1-468
Lissner J, Scharff N (2019) Danish Spiders. Formerly online at http://www.danmarks-edderkopper.dk
Mammola S, Cardoso P, Ribera C, Pavlek M, Isaia M (2018b) A synthesis on cave-dwelling spiders in Europe. Zoological Systematics and Evolutionary Research 56: 301-316
Maurer R, Hänggi A (1990) Katalog der schweizerischen Spinnen. Documenta Faunistica Helvetiae 12
Nadolny A (unpubl.) .
Naumova M, Lazarov S, Deltshev C (2019a) Faunistic diversity of the spiders in Montenegro (Arachnida: Araneae). Ecologica Montenegrina 22: 50-89
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
Pesarini C (unpubl.)
Pfliegler W A, Schönhofer A, Niedbała W, Vella P, Sciberras A, Vella A (2017) New records of mites (Acari) and harvestmen (Opiliones) from Malta with a preliminary checklist of Maltese Arachnida. Soil Organisms 89: 85-110
Ponomarev A V, Snegovaya N Y, Shmatko V Y (2019b) Synaphosus shirin Ovtsharenko, Levi [sic] et Platnik [sic], 1994 (Gnaphosidae) and Holocnemus pluchei (Scopoli, 1763) (Pholcidae) – two new species of spiders (Aranei) in the fauna of the Caucasus. Caucasian Entomological Bulletin 15: 233-235
Řezáč M, Růžička V, Hula V, Dolanský J, Machač O, Roušar A (2021) Spiders newly observed in Czechia in recent years – overlooked or invasive species? BioInvasions Records 10: 555-566
Rozwałka R, Rutkowski T, Bielak-Bielecki P (2017a) New data on introduced and rare synanthropic spider species (Arachnida: Araneae) in Poland (II). Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska, Lublin-Polonia 71: 59-85
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
Szinetár C, Kovács G, Urák I, Gajdoš P (2020) Synanthropic spider fauna of the Carpathian Basin in the last three decades. Biologica Futura 71: 31-38
Taberlet J-P (unpubl.)
Weiss I, Petrișor A (1999) List of the spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) from Romania. Travaux du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle “Grigore Antipa” 41: 79-107
WSC (2025) World Spider Catalog. Version 26. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (28.2.2025) doi: 10.24436/2
Wunderlich J (2024) New and already known spiders of seven families of the Algarve, Portugal (Araneida: Araneae). Beiträge zur Araneologie 17: 7-51, 102
Zarikian N A (2022a) New records of Araneae from Armenia. Indian Journal of Entomology 84: 757-760
Zarikian N A, Propistsova E A, Marusik Y M (2022) On spider families (Arachnida: Araneae) new to Armenia. Israel Journal of Entomology 51: 103-117
Updates
| 09-07-2025 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 04-06-2025 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 29-03-2025 | Distribution update | Detail |
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| 11-03-2024 | Distribution update | Detail |
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| 23-02-2022 | Distribution update | Detail |
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| 05-08-2021 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 20-06-2021 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 01-05-2021 | Datasheet update | Detail |