Gnaphosidae  Banks, 1892 / Aphantaulax  Simon, 1878   4 species

Aphantaulax cincta (L. Koch, 1866)

Description

Tibial apophysis ± as long as palpal tibia. Epigynal groove longer than wide. Prosoma white haired. Legs yellow- to red-brown, distal segments brighter. Opisthosoma yellow- to red-brown, with dorsal pattern consisting mostly of 5 spots.

Body length male: 4.3-5.3 mm
Body length female: 5.4-7.1 mm
Distribution
  Presence
  No data
Global distribution (WSC 2026): Europe, Turkey, Armenia, North Africa, Israel
Phenology
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
 male  female
Figures
Distribution List
Albania   (Vrenozi & Jäger, 2012) ||| Algeria   (Benhacene et al., 2023) ||| Armenia   (Zarikian, 2022a) ||| Bulgaria   (Blagoev et al., 2018) ||| Croatia   (Milosevic, 2002) ||| Cyprus   (Bosmans et al., 2019c) ||| Czechia   (Růžička & Řezáč, 2022a) ||| Egypt   (El-Hennawy, 2017a) ||| France   (Le Peru, 2007) ||| France / Corsica   (Le Peru, 2007) ||| Greece   (Bosmans & Chatzaki, 2005) ||| Greece / Crete   (Bosmans et al., 2013) ||| Hungary   (Samu & Szinetár, 1999) ||| Italy   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| Italy / Sardinia   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| Italy / Sicily   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| Malta   (Pfliegler et al., 2017) ||| Portugal   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Romania   (Weiss & Petrișor, 1999) ||| Serbia   (Grbić & Savić, 2010) ||| Slovakia   (Gajdoš et al., 1999) ||| Slovenia   (Kostanjšek & Kuntner, 2015; Gregorič & Kuntner, 2009) ||| Spain   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Tunisia   (Bosmans, unpubl.) ||| Turkey (Asia)   (Öztürk et al., 2013; Danışman et al., 2025a) ||| Ukraine   (Kovblyuk et al., 2016) |||
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

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) 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

Bosmans R. (unpubl.) Provisional list of spiders of North Africa. Database excerpt Aug. 2019

Branco V V, Morano E, Cardoso P (2019) An update to the Iberian spider checklist (Araneae). Zootaxa 4614: 201-254 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

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

Gajdoš P, Svatoň J, Sloboda J (1999) Katalóg pavúkov Slovenska. Catalogue of Slovakian spiders. Ústav kr. ekol. SAV, Bratislava, 337 pp.

Grbić G, Savić D (2010) Contribution to the knowledge of the spider fauna (Arachnida, Araneae) on the Fruška Gora Mt. Acta Entomologica Serbica 15: 243-260 pdf

Gregorič M, Kuntner M (2009) Epigean spider diversity in the classical karst. Hacquetia 8: 67-78 pdf

Grimm U (1985) Die Gnaphosidae Mitteleuropas (Arachnida, Araneae). Abhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg (NF) 26: 1-318 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

Kostanjšek R, Kuntner M (2015) Araneae Sloveniae: a national spider species checklist. ZooKeys 474: 1-91 pdf

Kovblyuk M M, Gnelitsa V A, Nadolny A A, Kastrygina Z A, Kukushkin, O V (2016) Spiders (Arachnida: Aranei) of the Karadag Nature Reserve (Crimea). Ekosystemy 3(33): 3-288 pdf

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

Levy G (2002) Spiders of the genera Micaria and Aphantaulax (Araneae, Gnaphosidae) from Israel. Israel Journal of Zoology 48: 111-134 pdf

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

Öztürk N, Danışman T, Tüfekl M, Ulusoy M R (2013) Spider fauna of pomegranate and olive orchards in the Eastern Mediterranean Region of Turkey. Turkish Bulletin of Entomology 3: 67-73 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

Růžička V, Řezáč M (2022a) Seznam pavouků České republiky. List of spiders of the Czech Republic. Online at https://www.arachnology.cz/seznam-pavouku-cr-26.html and https://www.arachnology.cz/en/seznam-pavouku-cr-26.html pdf

Samu F, Szinetár C (1999) Bibliographic check list of the Hungarian spider fauna. Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 11: 161-184 pdf

Simon E (1914) Les arachnides de France 6 (1). Paris (Roret): 1-308 pdf

Vrenozi B, Jäger P (2012) A faunistic study on ground-dwelling spiders (Araneae) in the Tirana district, Albania. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 44: 81-87 pdf

Weiss I, Petrișor A (1999) List of the spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) from Romania. Travaux du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle “Grigore Antipa” 41: 79-107 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

Zarikian N A (2022a) New records of Araneae from Armenia. Indian Journal of Entomology 84: 757-760 pdf

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