Gnaphosidae  Banks, 1892 / Heser  Tuneva, 2004   5 species

Heser nilicola (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1874)

Description
Male

Embolus enormously elongated.

Body length male: 2.8-3.7 mm
Female

Massive epigynal ducts.

Body length female: 3.1-3.8 mm
Additional information

also in citrus groves

Distribution
  Presence
  No data
Global distribution (WSC 2026): Canary Is., Mediterranean. Introduced to Burkina Faso, USA, Mexico
Figures
Distribution List
Cyprus   (Bosmans et al., 2019c) ||| Egypt   (El-Hennawy, 2017a) ||| France   (Cornic et al., 2004; Le Peru, 2007) ||| France / Corsica   (Senglet, 2012; Le Peru, 2007) ||| Greece   (Senglet, 2012) ||| Greece / Crete   (Senglet, 2012) ||| Italy   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| Italy / Sardinia   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| Italy / Sicily   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| Malta   (Pfliegler et al., 2017) ||| Spain   (Branco et al., 2019; Mestre et al., 2012) ||| Spain / Balearic Islands   (Branco et al., 2019; Barrientos & Febrer, 2017) ||| Tunisia   (Levy, 1998c; Kmira et al., 2025) ||| Turkey (Asia)   (Danışman et al., 2024b) |||
References

Barrientos J A, Febrer B (2017) Arañas (Arachnida, Araneae) de Menorca (Islas Baleares, España). Nuevos datos. Revista Ibérica de Aracnología 31: 8-24 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

Chatzaki M, Thaler K, Mylonas M (2003) Ground spiders (Gnaphosidae; Araneae) from Crete and adjacent areas of Greece. Taxonomy and distribution. III. Zelotes and allied genera. Revue Suisse de Zoologie 110: 45-89 pdf

Cornic J-F, Ledoux J-C, Villepoux O (2004) De araneis Galliae I.2, Zelotes nilicola O. P.-Cambridge. Revue Arachnologique 17 pdf

Danışman T, Ülker A, Coşar İ (2024b) Genus Heser Tuneva, 2004 (Araneae: Gnaphosidae), a new record for the spider fauna of Türkiye. Munis Entomology and Zoology 19: 1029-1031 pdf

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

FitzPatrick M J (2007) A taxonomic revision of the Afrotropical species of Zelotes (Arachnida: Araneae: Gnaphosidae). Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 14: 97-172 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

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

Levy G (1998c) The ground-spider genera Setaphis, Trachyzelotes, Zelotes, and Drassyllus (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) in Israel. Israel Journal of Zoology 44: 93-158 pdf

Mestre L, Piñol J, Barrientos J A, Cama A, Espadaler X (2012) Effects of ant competition and bird predation on the spider assemblage of a citrus grove. Basic and Applied Ecology 13: 355-362 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

Platnick N I, Shadab M U (1983) A revision of the American spiders of the genus Zelotes (Araneae, Gnaphosidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 174: 97-192 pdf

Senglet A (2012) Civizelotes new genus, and other new or little known Zelotinae (Araneae, Gnaphosidae). Revue Suisse de Zoologie 119: 501-528 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
07-08-2025 Distribution update Detail
16-06-2024 Image insert
16-06-2024 Distribution insert Detail
16-06-2024 Distribution update Detail
25-06-2020 Distribution update Detail
30-12-2017 Distribution update Detail
25-03-2014 Image insert
09-04-2013 Distribution update Detail