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Thomisidae  Sundevall, 1833 / Xysticus  C. L. Koch, 1835   82 species

Xysticus alpinus Kulczyński, 1887

WSC LSID urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:031961

Key to genera | Key to species

Description

Palp female: compact. Epigyne has only 2 independent, protruding, longish ovate, vertical, strongly sclerotised structures instead of an epigynal groove. Vulva consisting of 2 sac-like, glandular structures. Prosoma dark red-brown. Sternum brown to dark brown, longish oval, relatively densely provided with spines. Chelicerae dark brown, frontally densely spined. Legs brown to dark brown or orange-brown, distally darker, legs provided with very robust spines. Opisthosoma grey, beige to sand-brown, partly with small, yellow-brown spots. Spinnerets brown.

Body length female: 7.8-11.4 mm
Additional information

alpine grasslands, scree slopes, rock glaciers, >2000m

Distribution
  Presence
  No data
Global distribution (WSC 2026): Alps (Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Austria)
Phenology
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
 male  female
Figures
species

male Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Ballarin et al. 2018)

species

male Pedipalp, mesal view
(Ballarin et al. 2018)

species

female Epigyne
(Jantscher 2001a)

species

female Epigyne
(Jantscher 2001a)

species

female Epigyne
(Jantscher 2001a)

species

female Epigyne
(Ballarin et al. 2018)

species

female Vulva, dorsal view
(Jantscher 2001a)

species

female Vulva, dorsal view
(Jantscher 2001a)

species

female Vulva, dorsal view
(Jantscher 2001a)

species

female Vulva
(Ballarin et al. 2018)

Distribution List
Austria   (Thaler & Knoflach, 2004b) ||| Germany   (Ballarin et al., 2018) ||| Italy   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| Switzerland   (Ballarin et al., 2018) |||
References

Ballarin F, Pantini P, Gobbi M (2018) Elevation to species level and redescription of Xysticus alpinus Kulczyński, 1887 stat. n. (Araneae, Thomisidae). Zootaxa 4500: 271-280 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

Jantscher E (2001a) Revision der Krabbenspinnengattung Xysticus C.L. Koch, 1835 (Araneae, Thomisidae) in Zentraleuropa. Dissertation, Univ. Graz, 328 pp., 81 pls. pdf

Thaler K, Knoflach B (2004b) Zur Faunistik der Spinnen (Araneae) von Österreich: Gnaphosidae, Thomisidae (Dionycha pro parte). Linzer Biologische Beiträge 36: 417-484 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

Updates
09-11-2025 Distribution update Detail
16-10-2018 Image insert
16-10-2018 Distribution update Detail
07-03-2016 Image insert