Araniella alpica (L. Koch, 1869)
Description
Male palp with very robust median apophysis, medially with strongly protruding, wing-like structure, therefore appearing forked. Epigyne only at base completely covered by scapus, so that the lateral epigynal plates are visible. Prosoma brown. Legs brown. Opisthosoma dorso-laterally with (0) 1-2 pairs of black spots, often with a narrow bright longitudinal band on each side near median axis. Ventrally mostly with 4 strongly contoured, large bright spots that are arranged in squares within the green median area.
Body length male: 4.5-5.5 mmBody length female: 6-8 mm
Additional information
In the lower parts of conifers, in the mountains, in the North also in lowlands
Distribution
Phenology
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
 |  |
Figures
Pedipalp
(Roberts 1995)
Pedipalp
(Loksa 1972)
Pedipalp
(Locket & Millidge 1953)
Pedipalp
(Locket & Millidge 1953)
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Wiehle 1931)
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Wiehle 1931)
Pedipalp
(Heimer & Nentwig 1991)
Pedipalp
(Spasojevic et al. 2016)
Pedipalp in detail
(Løvbrekke unpubl.)
Pedipalp
(Løvbrekke unpubl.)
Median apophysis
(Løvbrekke unpubl.)
Coxa I
(Locket & Millidge 1953)
Epigyne
(Roberts 1995)
Epigyne
(Wiehle 1931)
Epigyne
(Loksa 1972)
Epigyne
(Locket & Millidge 1953)
Epigyne
(Loksa 1969)
Epigyne, posterior view
(Almquist 2005)
Epigyne, ventral view
(Spasojevic et al. 2016)
Epigyne/vulva, dorsal view
(Spasojevic et al. 2016)
Epigyne, ventral view
(Løvbrekke unpubl.)
Epigyne, posterior view
(Løvbrekke unpubl.)
Vulva
(Locket et al. 1974)
Vulva
(Locket et al. 1974)
Vulva, ventral view
(Løvbrekke unpubl.)
Opisthosoma, ventral view
(Løvbrekke unpubl.)
Coxa I
(Loksa 1972)
Opisthosoma, dorsal view
(Loksa 1972)
Opisthosoma, dorsal view
(Locket & Millidge 1953)
References
Almquist S (2005) Swedish Araneae, part 1: families Atypidae to Hahniidae (Linyphiidae excluded). Insect Syst Evol, Suppl 62: 1-124
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)
Caporiacco L di (1932) Aracnidi raccolti in Albania dal dott. Pietro Parenzan. Atti Accad Sci veneto-trent-istr. (3) 23: 93-98
Cera I (2018) The checklist of Latvian spiders (Arachnida: Araneae). Environmental and Experimental Biology 16: 139-152 
Danışman T, Kunt K B, Özkütük R S (2018a) The checklist of the spiders of Turkey. Version 2017 [last updated 2 September 2018], online at http://www.spidersofturkey.info
Deltshev C, Vrenozi B, Blagoev G, Lazarov S (2011b) Spiders of Albania – faunistic and zoogeographical review (Arachnida: Araneae). Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 63: 125-144
Heimer S, Nentwig W (1991) Spinnen Mitteleuropas. Paul Parey Berlin
Helsdingen P J van (2010a) Araneae. In: Fauna Europaea Database (Version 2010.1), online at www.european-arachnology.org
Kostanjšek R, Kuntner M (2015) Araneae Sloveniae: a national spider species checklist. ZooKeys 474: 1-91
Locket G H, Millidge A F (1953) British Spiders 2. Ray Soc London
Locket G H, Millidge A F, Merrett P (1974) British Spiders 3. Ray Soc London
Loksa I (1969) Pokok I-Araneae I. Fauna Hungariae 97: 2.1-2.133
Loksa I (1972) Pokok II-Araneae II. Fauna Hungariae 109: 3.1-3.112
Løvbrekke H (unpubl.)
Martynovchenko F A, Mikhailov K G (2014) Spiders (Aranei) of Teberda State Reserve: fauna and biotopic distribution. Euroasian Entomological Journal 13: 355-371
Otto S (2017) Caucasian spiders. A faunistic database on the spiders of the Caucasus Ecoregion. Database version 08.2017. Internet: caucasus-spiders.info.
Pantini P, Isaia M (2017) Checklist of the Italian spiders (version May 2017). online at http://www.museoscienzebergamo.it/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=96&Itemid=94
Roberts M J (1995) Spiders of Britain and Northern Europe. Collins Field Guide Bath
Sacher P (1990) Untersuchungen über Zahl, Anordnung und taxonomischen Wert der dorso-lateralen Abdominalpunkte in der Gattung Araniella (Arachnida: Araneae). Acta Zool Fennica 190: 345-349
Spasojevic T, Kropf C, Nentwig W, Lasut L (2016) Combining morphology, DNA sequences, and morphometrics: revising closely related species in the orb-weaving spider genus Araniella (Araneae, Araneidae). Zootaxa 4111: 448-470
Wiehle H (1931) Spinnentiere oder Arachnoidea, VI. 27: Familie Araneidae. Tierwelt Deutschlands 23
World Spider Catalog (2018) World Spider Catalog, version 19.5. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (15.07.2018) doi: 10.24436/2