Pellenes geniculatus (Simon, 1868)
Description
Male
Prosoma dorsally brown, margin cranially with white hairs, head plate dark brown, eye field black, fovea deep. Opisthosoma dorsally brown with wide, white, anteriorly discontinuous equatorial band. Palp: Femur reddish brown, patella yellowish and with white hairs, cymbium light orange with light yellow tip, apophysis distinctly curved, distally black.
Body length male: 3.2-3.7 mmFemale
Prosoma dorsally dark brown, head plate medially lighter with black eye field. Opisthosoma dorsally black with wide U-shaped, sclerotized epigyneal hood parallel and flattened.
Body length female: 4.2-5.0 mmAdditional information
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
Figures
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Metzner 1999)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Metzner 1999)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Ponomarev et al. 2019a)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Schäfer 2015)
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Schäfer 2015)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Lecigne et al. 2025)
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Lecigne et al. 2025)
Habitus
(Metzner 1999)
Epigyne
(Metzner 1999)
Epigyne
(Ponomarev et al. 2019a)
Epigyne
(Schäfer 2015)
Epigyne
(Lecigne et al. 2025)
Vulva, dorsal view
(Metzner 1999)
Vulva, dorsal view
(Seropian et al. 2023b)
Vulva, dorsal view
(Lecigne et al. 2025)
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
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) 
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
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
Febrer J B, Barrientos J A (2021) Arañas (Araneae) de Menorca (Islas Baleares, España), 4. Estudio del encinar de Alfurí y nuevos datos. Revista Ibérica de Aracnología 38: 109-120
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
Komnenov M (2014) Spider fauna of the Osogovo Mt. Range, Northeastern Macedonia. Fauna Balkana 2: 1-267
Le Peru B (2007) Catalogue et répartition des araignées de France. Revue Arachnologique 16: 1-468
Lecigne S, Moutaouakil S, Lips J (2025) Contribution to the knowledge of the spider fauna of Morocco (Arachnida: Araneae) – second note. On new species and new records from caves and miscellaneous terrestrial ecosystems. Journal of the Belgian Arachnological Society 40(1, supplement): 1-184
Logunov D V (2015) Taxonomic-faunistic notes on the jumping spiders of the Mediterranean (Aranei: Salticidae). Arthropoda Selecta 24: 33-85
Metzner H (1999) Die Springspinnen (Araneae, Salticidae) Griechenlands. Andrias 14: 1-279
Mikhailov K G (2013) The spiders (Arachnida: Aranei) of Russia and adjacent countries: a non-annotated checklist. Arthropoda Selecta, Supplement 3: 1-262
Otto S (2022) Caucasian spiders. A faunistic database on the spiders of the Caucasus Ecoregion. Database version 02.2022. Internet: caucasus-spiders.info.
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.
Ponomarev A V, Aliev M A, Khabiev G N, Shmatko V Y (2019a) New data on the spider fauna (Aranei) of Dagestan, Russia. Arthropoda Selecta 28: 309-334
Schäfer M (2015) Ein Beitrag zur Springspinnenfauna der Balearen mit dem Erstnachweis von Heliophanus stylifer für Europa (Araneae, Salticidae). Arachnologische Mitteilungen 49: 62-67
Schäfer M (2021) Ein Beitrag zur Springspinnenfauna (Araneae: Salticidae) der griechischen Insel Korfu mit vier Erstnachweisen für die Insel und Anmerkungen zur Gattung Salticus. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 61: 84-97
Seropian A, Bulbulashvili N, Otto S, Krammer H-J, Kachlishvili N, Datunashvili A (2023b) Picking pearls from the Silk Road: insights into the spider (Arachnida, Araneae) diversity in Georgia from the Caucasus barcode of life project. Part II. Caucasiana 2: 231-297
WSC (2026) World Spider Catalog. Version 27. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (13.2.2026) doi: 10.24436/2
Zarikian N (2020) A contribution to the checklist of the jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) of Armenia. Bulletin of the Iraq Natural History Museum 16: 193-202
Updates
| 10-05-2025 | Image insert | |
| 27-04-2025 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 27-04-2025 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 06-02-2024 | Image insert | |
| 21-12-2023 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 01-03-2023 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 09-02-2023 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 06-07-2021 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 27-04-2021 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 04-01-2021 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 24-04-2020 | Image insert | |
| 05-07-2019 | Image insert | |
| 01-07-2019 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 03-02-2019 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 19-07-2016 | Datasheet update | Detail |