Zoropsis spinimana (Dufour, 1820)
Description
Male palp with hook-shaped median apophysis. Cymbium dorsally with a field of short, dense bristles. Conductor transparent. Embolus short, blunt. Epigyne with long, narrow, finger-shaped scapus. Prosoma yellow-whitish with extended black pattern. Eye field white. Legs yellowish-grey, annulated with black. Opisthosoma yellow-whitish anteriorly, black pattern medially, grey posteriorly.
Body length male: 10-13 mmBody length female: 10-19 mm
Additional information
In open woodland, under stones and bark, often synanthropic in and on buildings. Females sit in a brood chamber on the cocoon and apparently do not leave it anymore, egg laying in spring, maturity in autumn, lives one year.
This species can bite humans, usually when they try to catch or remove it with their hands (in urban areas, mainly in buildings). The bite is not very painful and an occasional moderate local swelling disappears within a few hours (Nentwig et al. 2013).
Since a few decades, this species shows some spreading tendencies within Europe. Nevertheless, it shall not be listed as alien or invasive because it is native for Europe.
Distribution
Phenology
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
 |  |
Figures
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Griswold & Ubick 2001)
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Thaler & Knoflach 1998c)
Pedipalp
(Griswold & Ubick 2001)
Pedipalp
(Pesarini unpubl.)
Pedipalp
(Thaler & Knoflach 1998c)
Pedipalp
(Thaler & Knoflach 1998c)
Pedipalp, prolateral view
(Purgat et al. 2021a)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Purgat et al. 2021a)
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Purgat et al. 2021a)
Epigyne
(Griswold & Ubick 2001)
Epigyne
(Pesarini unpubl.)
Epigyne
(Thaler & Knoflach 1998c)
Epigyne
(Nadolny 2016)
Epigyne
(Purgat et al. 2021a)
Epigyne
(Sánchez-Álvarez et al. 2023)
Epigyne
(Sánchez-Álvarez et al. 2023)
Vulva
(Griswold & Ubick 2001)
Vulva
(Thaler & Knoflach 1998c)
Habitus
(Griswold & Ubick 2001)
Habitus
(Murphy & Murphy 2000)
Habitus, dorsal view
(Nadolny 2016)
Eyes, dorsal view
(Murphy & Murphy 2000)
Spinnerets with cribellum
(Murphy & Murphy 2000)
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
Benhacene R, Adjami A, Hadjeb A, Kermiche K, Ouakid M L (2023) Bibliographic checklist of the Algerian spider fauna (Araneae). Zootaxa 5352: 301-357 
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 (2003) A checklist of the spiders of Tunisia, with description of a new species of Palliduphantes Saaristo & Tanasevitch (Araneae: Linyphiidae). Kaupia - Darmstädter Beiträge zur Naturgeschichte 12: 89-109
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
Caporiacco L di (1934) Missione zoologica del Dott. E. Festa in Cirenaica. Aracnidi. Bollettino dei Musei di Zoologia ed Anatomia Comparata della Reale Università di Torino 44: 121-146
Danışman T, Kunt K B, Özkütük R S, Coşar İ (2024a) The checklist of the spiders of Turkey. Version 2024 [last updated 01 January 2024], 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
Dolejš P, Prudek M (2019) Zoropsis spinimana in the Czech Republic? Pavouk 46: 5
Gierlasiński G, Wrzoł M (2023) Zoropsis spinimana (Dufour, 1820) (Araneae: Zoropsidae) in Poland. Acta Entomologica Silesiana 31(004): 1-4
Grbić G, Marinković N (2023) A new resident of Belgrade (Serbia), the Mediterranean spider Zoropsis spinimana (Dufour, 1820). Acta Entomologica Serbica 28: 103-111
Griswold C E, Ubick D (2001) Zoropsidae: a spider family newly introduced to the USA (Araneae, Entelegynae, Lycosoidea). Journal of Arachnology 29: 111-113
Hänggi A (2003) Nachträge zum "Katalog der schweizerischen Spinnen" - 3. Neunachweise von 1999 bis 2002 und Nachweise synanthroper Spinnen Arachnologische Mitteilungen 26: 36-54
Hänggi A, Zürcher I (2013) Zoropsis spinimana – eine mediterrane Spinne ist in Basel (NW-Schweiz) heimisch geworden. Mitteilungen der Naturforschenden Gesellschaften beider Basel 14: 125-134
Harvey P (2012) Zoropsis spinimana (Dufour, 1820) established indoors in Britain. Newsletter of the British Arachnological Society 125: 20-21
Helsdingen P J van (2015b) Binnenwandelende exoten. Nieuwsbrief SPINED 35: 33-34
Kostanjšek R, Kuntner M (2015) Araneae Sloveniae: a national spider species checklist. ZooKeys 474: 1-91
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
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
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].
Murphy F, Murphy J (2000) An introduction to the spiders of South East Asia with notes on all the genera. Malaysian Nature Society, Kuala Lumpur, 388 pp.
Nadolny A A (2016) The first record of Zoropsis spinimana (Aranei, Zoropsidae) in the Crimea. Zoology and Ecology 26: 127-128
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
Otto S (2022) Caucasian spiders. A faunistic database on the spiders of the Caucasus Ecoregion. Database version 02.2022. Internet: caucasus-spiders.info.
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
Purgat P, Ondrejková N, Krumpálova Z, Gajdoš P, Hurajtová N (2021a) Tegenaria hasperi Chyzer, 1897 and Zoropsis spinimana (Dufour, 1820), newly recorded synanthropic spiders from Slovakia (Araneae, Agelenidae, Zoropsidae). Check List 17: 775-782
Rückl K (2022) Pazora slíďákovitá opět v České republice. Zoropsis spinimana in the Czech Republic. Pavouk 52: 19-22
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
Sánchez-Álvarez J, Cisneros P, González-Casarrubios A, Morano E (2023) Primera cita de Zoropsis spinimana (Dufour, 1820) (Araneae: Zoropsidae) para la Comunidad de Madrid (España). Revista Ibérica de Aracnología 43: 95-96
Simon E (1909) Etude sur les arachnides recueillis au Maroc par M. Martinez de la Escalera en 1907. Memorias de la Real Sociedad Española de Historia Natural (6) 1: 5-43
Szinetár C, Török T, Szűts T (2014) Zoropsis spinimana, mint új épületlakó pókfaj magyarországon [Zoropsis spinimana (Dufour, 1820) new synantrop spider species in Hungary]. A Nyme Savaria Egyetemi Központ Tudományos Közleményei XX. Természettudományok 15: 105-113
Thaler K, Knoflach B (1998c) Zoropsis spinimana (Dufour), eine für Österreich neue Adventivart (Araneae, Zoropsidae). Berichte des Naturwissenschaftlich-Medizinischen Vereins in Innsbruck 85: 173-185
Vasiliev A I, Mikhailov K G (2023) Annotated checklist of spiders (Araneae) of the Republic of Moldova. Invertebrate Zoology 20: 307-342
WSC (2025) World Spider Catalog. Version 26. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (28.2.2025) doi: 10.24436/2
Updates
| 18-01-2024 | Image insert | |
| 12-01-2024 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 12-01-2024 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 16-05-2023 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 26-08-2022 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 17-05-2021 | Image insert | |
| 17-05-2021 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 23-03-2021 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 19-01-2021 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 14-05-2020 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 21-10-2019 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 09-03-2018 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 17-01-2017 | Image insert | |
| 06-12-2016 | Datasheet update | Detail |
| 06-12-2016 | Distribution update | Detail |