Philodromidae  Thorell, 1869 / Thanatus  C. L. Koch, 1837   36 species

Thanatus arenarius L. Koch, 1872

Description

Tibial apophysis retrolateral, flat, slightly bent, two-tailed end. Prosoma red-brown. Legs red-brown. Opisthosoma light brown to ash grey.

Body length male: 4.3-6.2 mm
Body length female: 5.5-8.5 mm
Additional information

Often in dry and semi-dry steppe areas, on sea coasts and salty localities, palaearctically distributed, hibernation as juveniles

Distribution
  Presence
  No data
Distribution comment: Records in Azerbaijan are probably based on misidentifications (Logunov & Huseynov 2008).
Global distribution (WSC 2026): Europe, Caucasus, Iran, Russia (Europe to South Siberia), Kazakhstan
Phenology
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
 male  female
Figures
Distribution List
Albania   (Kůrka et al., 2020) ||| Austria   (Malicky, 1972a) ||| Azerbaijan  Removed (Otto, 2022; Nuruyeva & Zamani, 2025) ||| Belarus   (Ivanov, 2013) ||| Belgium   (Bosmans & Van Keer, 2017) ||| Bulgaria   (Blagoev et al., 2018) ||| Croatia   (Milosevic, 2002) ||| Czechia   (Růžička & Řezáč, 2022a) ||| Denmark   (Scharff & Gudik-Sørensen, 2006) ||| Finland   (Koponen et al., 2016) ||| France   (Le Peru, 2007) ||| Georgia   (Otto, 2022) ||| Germany   (Blick et al., 2016) ||| Greece   (Bosmans & Chatzaki, 2005) ||| Greece / Crete   (Bosmans & Chatzaki, 2005) ||| Hungary   (Samu & Szinetár, 1999) ||| Italy   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| Latvia   (Cera, 2018) ||| Lithuania   (Biteniekytė & Rėlys, 2012) ||| Moldova   (Vasiliev & Mikhailov, 2023) ||| North Macedonia   (Komnenov, 2014) ||| Norway   (Aakra & Hauge, 2003) ||| Poland   (Rozwałka & Stanska, 2008) ||| Romania   (Weiss & Petrișor, 1999) ||| Russia, Central   (Ponomarev, 2022) ||| Russia, Eastern   (Esyunin & Efimik, 1996a) ||| Russia, Southern   (Otto, 2022; Ponomarev, 2022) ||| Serbia   (Stanković, 2023) ||| Slovakia   (Gajdoš et al., 1999) ||| Slovenia   (Kostanjšek & Kuntner, 2015; Gregorič & Kuntner, 2009) ||| Spain   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Spain / Balearic Islands   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Sweden   (Kronestedt, 2001) ||| Ukraine   (Polchaninova & Prokopenko, 2019) |||
References

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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

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Logunov D V, Huseynov E F (2008) A faunistic review of the spider family Philodromidae (Aranei) of Azerbaijan. Arthropoda Selecta 17: 117-131 pdf

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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

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Řezáč M, Růžička V (2022) Thanatus aridorum Šilhavý, 1940 from Czechia is a junior synonym of Thanatus formicinus (Clerck, 1757) (Araneae: Philodromidae). Arachnologische Mitteilungen 63: 15-18 pdf

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Stanković B (2023) Diversity of spider fauna in the area of Jagodina (Serbia). In: Seydoşoğlu, S. & Durna Aydin, Ö (eds.) International Cukurova Agriculture and Veterinary Congress 4. Adana, pp. 590-615 pdf

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