Gnaphosidae  Banks, 1892 / Micaria  Westring, 1851   35 species

Micaria pulicaria (Sundevall, 1831)

Description

Male palp with strongly elongated retinaculum. Male palpal tibia dorsally sometimes with hump. Tibia I and II female: ventrally without bristles.

Body length male: 3.0-4.0 mm
Body length female: 2.7-4.5 mm
Additional information

in sunny localities, most frequent Micaria-species (this is probably true for micans)

Distribution
  Presence
  No data
Distribution comment: Numerous countries have to be confirmed after the splitting of M. micans by Muster & Michalik (2020)
Global distribution (WSC 2026): Europe, Georgia, Russia (Europe to Far East), Kazakhstan, China, Japan, Alaska, Canada, USA
Phenology
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
 male  female
Figures
Distribution List
Albania   (Kůrka et al., 2020) ||| Armenia   (Otto, 2022) ||| Austria   (Muster & Michalik, 2020) ||| Azerbaijan  Removed (Otto, 2022; Nuruyeva & Zamani, 2025) ||| Belarus   (Ivanov, 2013) ||| Belgium   (Bosmans & Van Keer, 2017) ||| Bulgaria   (Blagoev et al., 2018) ||| Croatia   (Milosevic, 2002) ||| Czechia   (Dolejš, 2020; Růžička & Řezáč, 2022a) ||| Denmark   (Scharff & Gudik-Sørensen, 2006) ||| Estonia   (Vilbaste, 1987) ||| Finland   (Koponen et al., 2016; Muster & Michalik, 2020) ||| France   (Le Peru, 2007; Muster & Michalik, 2020) ||| France / Corsica   (Le Peru, 2007) ||| Georgia   (Otto, 2022; Muster & Michalik, 2020) ||| Germany   (Muster & Michalik, 2020; Blick et al., 2016) ||| Greece   (Bosmans & Chatzaki, 2005) ||| Greece / Crete   (Bosmans & Chatzaki, 2005) ||| Hungary   (Samu & Szinetár, 1999) ||| Iceland   (Agnarsson, 1996) ||| Ireland   (Lavery, 2019; Nolan, 2021a) ||| Italy   (Isaia et al., 2025; Muster & Michalik, 2020) ||| Italy / Sardinia   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| Kosovo   (Vrenozi & Jäger, 2013) ||| Latvia   (Cera, 2018) ||| Liechtenstein   (Arnold, 2001) ||| Lithuania   (Biteniekytė & Rėlys, 2012) ||| Luxembourg   (Kreuels et al., 2019) ||| Netherlands   (Muster & Michalik, 2020) ||| North Macedonia   (Komnenov, 2014) ||| Northern Ireland   (Lavery, 2019) ||| Norway   (Aakra & Hauge, 2003) ||| Poland   (Rozwałka & Stanska, 2008; Muster & Michalik, 2020) ||| Portugal   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Romania   (Weiss & Petrișor, 1999) ||| Russia, Central   (Ponomarev, 2022) ||| Russia, Eastern   (Esyunin & Efimik, 1996a) ||| Russia, Kaliningrad Region   (Schikora, 1997) ||| Russia, Northern   (no references) ||| Russia, Southern   (Otto, 2022; Ponomarev et al., 2023; Ponomarev, 2022; Muster & Michalik, 2020) ||| Russia, Western   (no references) ||| Serbia   (Grbić et al., 2021) ||| Slovakia   (Gajdoš et al., 1999) ||| Slovenia   (Kostanjšek & Kuntner, 2015) ||| Spain   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Sweden   (Kronestedt, 2001; Muster & Michalik, 2020) ||| Switzerland   (Maurer & Hänggi, 1990; Muster & Michalik, 2020) ||| Turkey (Asia)   (Danışman et al., 2025a) ||| Turkey (Europe)   (Demircan Aksan & Topçu, 2022c) ||| Ukraine   (Polchaninova & Prokopenko, 2019; Ponomarev et al., 2023; Muster & Michalik, 2020) ||| United Kingdom   (Lavery, 2019; Muster & Michalik, 2020) |||
References

Aakra K, Hauge E (2003) Checklist of Norwegian spiders (Arachnida: Araneae), including Svalbard and Jan Mayen. Norwegian Journal of Entomology 50: 109-129 pdf

Agnarsson I (1996) Íslenskar köngulær Fjölrit Náttúrufræðistofnunar 31: 1-175 pdf

Arnold K (2001) Beitrag zur Spinnenfauna (Arachnida, Araneae) des Fürstentums Liechtenstein. Berichte der Botanisch-Zoologischen Gesellschaft Liechtenstein-Sargans-Werdenberg 28: 211-244 pdf

Biteniekytė M, Rėlys V (2012) The checklist of Lithuanian spiders (Arachnida: Araneae). Biologija 57: 148-158 pdf

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) pdf

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 pdf

Bosmans R, Chatzaki M (2005) A catalogue of the spiders of Greece – a critical review of all spider species cited from Greece with their localities. Nieuwsbrief van de Belgische arachnologische Vereniging 20 (2, suppl.): 1-124 pdf

Bosmans R, Van Keer K (2017) Een herziene soortenlijst van de Belgische spinnen (Araneae). Nieuwsbrief van de Belgische Arachnologische Vereniging 32: 39-69 pdf

Branco V V, Morano E, Cardoso P (2019) An update to the Iberian spider checklist (Araneae). Zootaxa 4614: 201-254 pdf

Cera I (2018) The checklist of Latvian spiders (Arachnida: Araneae). Environmental and Experimental Biology 16: 139-152 pdf

Danışman T, Kunt K B, Özkütük R S, Coşar İ (2025a) The checklist of the spiders of Turkey. Version 2025 [last updated 01 December 2025], online at http://www.spidersofturkey.info pdf

Demircan Aksan N, Topçu A (2022c) A preliminary checklist of the spider fauna of European Türkiye. Serket 19: 39-56 pdf

Dolejš P (2020) Revize materiálu Micaria pulicaria (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) ve sbírkách Národního muzea v Praze [Revision of Micaria pulicaria (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) in the collection of National Museum, Prague]. Pavouk 49: 14-16 pdf

Esyunin S L, Efimik V E (1996a) Catalogue of the spiders (Arachnida, Aranei) of the Urals. KMK Scientific Press, Moscow, 228 pp. pdf

Fjellberg A (unpubl.) .

Gajdoš P, Svatoň J, Sloboda J (1999) Katalóg pavúkov Slovenska. Catalogue of Slovakian spiders. Ústav kr. ekol. SAV, Bratislava, 337 pp.

Grbić G, Hänggi A, Krnjajić S (2021) Spiders (Araneae) of Subotica Sandland (Serbia): additional arguments in environmental protection. Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 67: 15-61 pdf

Isaia M, Tolve M, Pantini P (2025) Araneae.it: 2.0: the new updated version of the digital catalog of the Italian spiders and other arachnids (Arachnida: Araneae, Opiliones, Scorpiones, Pseudoscorpiones, Palpigradi, Solifugae). Fragmenta Entomologica 57: 197-204 pdf

Ivanov V V (2013) The checklist of Belarusian spiders (Arachnida, Araneae). Zoology and Ecology 4: 293-311 pdf

Komnenov M (2014) Spider fauna of the Osogovo Mt. Range, Northeastern Macedonia. Fauna Balkana 2: 1-267 pdf

Koponen S, Fritzén N R, Pajunen T (2016) Checklist of spiders in Finland (Araneae). 6th version, December 2016, online at http://biolcoll.utu.fi/arach/checklist_of_spiders_in_Finland.htm pdf

Kostanjšek R, Kuntner M (2015) Araneae Sloveniae: a national spider species checklist. ZooKeys 474: 1-91 pdf

Kovblyuk M M, Nadolny A A (2008) The spider genus Micaria Westring, 1851 in the Crimea (Aranei: Gnaphosidae). Arthropoda Selecta 16: 215-236 pdf

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 pdf

Kronestedt T (2001) Checklist of Spiders (Araneae) in Sweden [Preliminary version February 2001] pdf

Kůrka A, Naumova M, Indzhov S, Deltshev C (2020) New faunistic and taxonomic data on the spider fauna of Albania (Arachnida: Araneae). Arachnologische Mitteilungen 59: 8-21 pdf

Lavery A (2019) A revised checklist of the spiders of Great Britain and Ireland. Arachnology 18: 196-212 pdf

Le Peru B (2007) Catalogue et répartition des araignées de France. Revue Arachnologique 16: 1-468 pdf

Liu B, Zhang F (2025) Revision of the genus Micaria Westring, 1851 from China (Araneae: Gnaphosidae). Zootaxa 5645: 1-114 pdf

Løvbrekke H (unpubl.)

Maurer R, Hänggi A (1990) Katalog der schweizerischen Spinnen. Documenta Faunistica Helvetiae 12 pdf

Milosevic B (2002) Aranea – Popis vrsta – Checklist. Hrvatsko entomološko društvo – Inventar entomofaune Hrvatske [Aranea – List of species – Checklist. Croatian Entomological Society – Inventory of Croatian entomofauna]. pdf

Muster C, Michalik P (2020) Cryptic diversity in ant‐mimic Micaria spiders (Araneae, Gnaphosidae) and a tribute to early naturalists. Zoologica Scripta 49: 197-209+App. pdf

Nolan M (2021a) First Irish record of Micaria micans (Blackwall) (Araneae, Gnaphosidae) and revalidation of Micaria pulicaria (Sundevall). Bulletin of the Irish Biogeographical Society 45: 56-61 pdf

Nuruyeva T, Zamani A (2025) An annotated checklist of the spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Azerbaijan. Zootaxa 5680: 1-168 pdf

Otto S (2022) Caucasian spiders. A faunistic database on the spiders of the Caucasus Ecoregion. Database version 02.2022. Internet: caucasus-spiders.info.

Platnick N I, Shadab M U (1988) A revision of the American spiders of the genus Micaria (Araneae, Gnaphosidae). American Museum Novitates 2916: 1-64 pdf

Polchaninova N, Prokopenko E (2019) An updated checklist of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Left-Bank Ukraine. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 57: 60-64 & App pdf

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. pdf

Ponomarev A V, Prokopenko E V, Shmatko V Y (2023) Micaria micans (Blackwall, 1858) and M. pulicaria (Sundevall, 1831) (Aranei: Gnaphosidae) in the southeast of the Russian Plain and the Russian Caucasus. Caucasian Entomological Bulletin 19: 49-56 pdf

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 pdf

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 pdf

Samu F, Szinetár C (1999) Bibliographic check list of the Hungarian spider fauna. Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 11: 161-184 pdf

Scharff N, Gudik-Sørensen O (2006) Katalog over Danmarks edderkopper (Araneae). Catalogue of the spiders of Denmark (Araneae). Entomologiske Meddelelser 74: 3-71 pdf

Schikora H-B (1997) Wachsende Regenmoorflächen im Zehlaubruch (Kaliningrad-Region): Extremlebensraum für epigäische Spinnen (Arachnida: Araneae)? Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft für Ökologie 27: 447-452 pdf

Tullgren A (1946) Svensk spindelfauna. 3. Egentiliga spinddlar. Araneae Fam 5-7. Clubionidae, Zoridae och Gnaphosidae. Stockholm (Entomol Fören.): 141 pp. pdf

Tuneva T K (2007) Review of the family Gnaphosidae in the Ural fauna (Aranei). 5. Genera Micaria Westring, 1851 and Arboricaria Bosmans, 2000. Arthropoda Selecta 15: 229-250 pdf

Vilbaste A (1987) Eesti Ämblikud (Aranei). Annoteeritud nimestik. Estonian spiders (Aranei). An annotated check list. Valgus, Tallinn. 113 pp. & 512 maps on 67 unpag. pages pdf

Vrenozi B, Jäger P (2013) Spiders (Araneae) from Albania and Kosovo in the collection of Carl Friedrich Roewer. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 46: 17-26 pdf

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 pdf

WSC (2026) World Spider Catalog. Version 27. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (20.5.2026) doi: 10.24436/2 pdf

Updates
18-08-2025 Distribution update Detail
03-07-2025 Image insert
05-06-2025 Distribution update Detail
20-01-2025 Distribution update Detail
20-12-2023 Distribution update Detail
26-03-2023 Distribution update Detail
21-11-2022 Distribution update Detail
30-06-2022 Image insert
24-04-2022 Distribution update Detail
19-06-2021 Distribution update Detail
03-05-2021 Image insert
03-05-2021 Distribution update Detail
14-05-2020 Distribution insert Detail
29-04-2020 Distribution insert Detail
18-02-2020 Image insert