Scytodidae  Blackwall, 1852 / Scytodes  Latreille, 1804   13 species

Scytodes velutina Heineken & Lowe, 1832

Description
Male

Bulbus with a short embolus. Prosoma 1.9 mm long.

Body length male: 3.5 mm
Female

Prosoma 2.7 mm long. Prosoma pale yellowish, with black pattern. Opisthosoma pale yellowish, anteriorly with 2 wide transverse procurved black streaks, and posteriorly with 2 longitudinal dark streaks.

Body length female: 5.7 mm
Additional information

Under stones.

Distribution
  Presence
  No data
Global distribution (WSC 2026): Mediterranean, Cape Verde, Ascension, Seychelles
Phenology
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
 male  female
Figures
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.

Algeria   (Van Keer & Bosmans, 2014; Benhacene et al., 2023) ||| Cyprus   (Bosmans et al., 2019c) ||| Egypt   (El-Hennawy, 2017a) ||| France   (Le Peru, 2007) ||| France / Corsica   (Le Peru, 2007) ||| Greece   (Bosmans & Chatzaki, 2005) ||| Greece / Crete   (Bosmans & Chatzaki, 2005) ||| Italy   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| Italy / Sardinia   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| Italy / Sicily   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| Libya   (Van Keer & Bosmans, 2014; Elkrew et al., 2024) ||| Malta   (Pfliegler et al., 2017) ||| Morocco   (Denis, 1961c; Van Keer & Bosmans, 2014; Benhalima & Bosmans, 2024) ||| Portugal   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Spain   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Spain / Balearic Islands   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Tunisia   (Van Keer & Bosmans, 2014; Kmira et al., 2025) ||| Turkey (Asia)   (Kunt et al., 2012) |||
References

Abdel-Ghani D M A, Hassan F M, Sallam G M E (2023) Spiders as a bio-agent factor in a mango greenhouse at Giza Governorate, Egypt. Serket 20: 26-38 pdf

Benhacene R, Adjami A, Hadjeb A, Kermiche K, Ouakid M L (2023) Bibliographic checklist of the Algerian spider fauna (Araneae). Zootaxa 5352: 301-357 pdf

Benhalima S, Bosmans R (2024) First historical checklist of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) from Morocco, between 1840–2024. Zootaxa 5555: 407-535 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 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 pdf

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

Brignoli P M (1976a) Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Scytodidae (Araneae). Revue Suisse de Zoologie 83: 125-191 pdf

Denis J (1961c) Notes d'aranéologie marocaine. IX. Les araignées du Maroc I. Orthognatha et Haplogynae. Bulletin de la Société des Sciences Naturelles du Maroc 41: 141-167 pdf

El-Hennawy H K (2017a) A list of Egyptian spiders (revised in 2017). Serket 15: 167-183 pdf

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 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

Kmira G, Nasri-Ammar, Petillon J, Bosmans R (2025) Catalog of the spiders of Tunisia (Arachnida: Araneae). Zootaxa 5641: 1-95 pdf

Kunt K B, Kaya R S, Özkütük R S, Danişman T, Yağmur E A, Elverici M (2012) Additional notes on the spider fauna of Turkey (Araneae). Turkish Journal of Zoology 36: 637-651 pdf

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

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 pdf

Saaristo M I (1997c) Scytotids (Arachnida, Araneae, Scytodidae) of the granitic islands of Seychelles. Phelsuma 5 : 49-57 pdf

Sherwood D, Stevens N, Peters R, Fowler L, Joshua D, Balchin J (2025) Arachnological biosecurity on one of the world’s most remote inhabited islands: a checklist of stowaway spiders found on Saint Helena, South Atlantic Ocean. Natura Somogyiensis 45: 57-68 pdf

Van Keer J, Bosmans R (2014) A new species of Scytodes from Algeria (Araneae: Scytodidae), with a review of the species from the Maghreb. Zootaxa 3894: 131-140 pdf

WSC (2026) World Spider Catalog. Version 27. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (13.2.2026) doi: 10.24436/2 pdf

Wunderlich J (1987) Die Spinnen der Kanarischen Inseln und Madeiras: Adaptive Radiation, Biogeographie, Revisionen und Neubeschreibungen. Triops, Langen, 435 pp. pdf

Updates
18-09-2025 Distribution update Detail
16-06-2025 Image insert
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