Sparassidae  Bertkau, 1872 / Eusparassus  Simon, 1903   10 species

Eusparassus walckenaeri (Audouin, 1826)

Description

Prosoma dark brown to orange-brown. Cheliceral furrow with intermarginal denticles. Legs with distinct darker bands. Opisthosoma: dorsum with a series of small chevron-like patterns, venter without marking.

Body length male: 13.4-20.6 mm
Body length female: 16.9-25.3 mm
Additional information

in semi-dry areas under flat stones, trogloxene (Greece)

Distribution
  Presence
  Not established
  No data
Global distribution (WSC 2026): Greece, Turkey, Algeria to Iraq, Sudan
Phenology
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
 male  female
Figures
Distribution List
Algeria   (Moradmand, 2013; Benhacene et al., 2023) ||| Cyprus   (Bosmans et al., 2019c) ||| Egypt   (Moradmand, 2013; Levy, 1989; El-Hennawy, 2017a) ||| Germany   (Kielhorn, 2021) ||| Greece   (Bosmans & Chatzaki, 2005) ||| Greece / Crete   (Bosmans et al., 2013; Moradmand & Jäger, 2012) ||| Italy  Removed (Moradmand & Jäger, 2012) ||| Libya   (Moradmand, 2013; Elkrew et al., 2024) ||| Netherlands   (van Helsdingen, 2015b) ||| Tunisia   (Moradmand, 2013; Kmira et al., 2025) ||| Turkey (Asia)   (Danışman et al., 2025a; Moradmand, 2013) ||| Turkey (Europe)   (Demircan & Topçu, 2016; Demircan Aksan & Topçu, 2022c) ||| Ukraine   (Nadolny & Yemets, 2024) |||
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 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

Bosmans R, Van Keer J, Russell-Smith A, Kronestedt T, Alderweireldt M, Bosselaers J, De Koninck H (2013) Spiders of Crete (Araneae). A catalogue of all currently known species from the Greek island of Crete. Nieuwsbrief van de Belgische Arachnologische Vereniging 28 (Suppl. 1): 1-147 pdf

Danışman T, Kunt K B, Özkütük R S, Coşar İ (2025a) The checklist of the spiders of Turkey. Version 2025 [last updated 01 December 2025], online at http://www.spidersofturkey.info pdf

Demircan Aksan N, Topçu A (2022c) A preliminary checklist of the spider fauna of European Türkiye. Serket 19: 39-56 pdf

Demircan N, Topçu A (2016) First records for spider fauna of the European part of Turkey (Araneae). Serket 15: 85-91 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

Helsdingen P J van (2015b) Binnenwandelende exoten. Nieuwsbrief SPINED 35: 33-34 pdf

Kielhorn K-H (2021) Bemerkenswerte Spinnenfunde aus Brandenburg und Berlin (Arachnida: Araneae). Märkische Entomologische Nachrichten 23: 229-248

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

Levy G (1989) The family of huntsman spiders in Israel with annotations on species of the Middle East (Araneae: Sparassidae). Journal of Zoology, London 217: 127-176 pdf

Moradmand M (2013) The stone huntsman spider genus Eusparassus (Araneae: Sparassidae): systematics and zoogeography with revision of the African and Arabian species. Zootaxa 3675: 1-108 pdf

Moradmand M, Jäger P (2012) Taxonomic revision of the huntsman spider genus Eusparassus Simon, 1903 (Araneae: Sparassidae) in Eurasia. Journal of Natural History 46: 2439-2496 pdf

Nadolny A A, Yemets M D (2024) Identification of synanthropic huntsman spider findings (Aranei, Sparassidae) with notes on the species composition in Crimea. Biodiversity and Sustainable Development 9(2): 11-16 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

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