Rugathodes bellicosus (Simon, 1873)
Description
Male
Prosoma yellowish-brown, with darker median area. Prosoma 1 mm long. Sternum yellow-brown, sometimes tinged with black. Chelicerae male: very long and with conical hump. Legs yellow-brown, rarely with slightly darker joints. Epigastric area not bulging.
Body length male: 1.5-2.0 mmFemale
Prosoma 0.8 mm long. Chelicerae: promargin with 2 or 3 teeth. Legs: metatarsus III with trichobothrium. Opisthosoma dorsally yellowish brown, sometimes with darker blotches on the sides, ventrally lighter, often with a dark blotch.
Body length female: 1.5-2.0 mmAdditional information
In low vegetation and under stones or in block fields of subalpine and alpine region, also in low mountain ranges, mostly near creeks, also in pine or birch woods. Egg sac whitish, females carry their egg sac attached to the spinnerets.
Troglophile species (Mammola et al., 2022)
Distribution
Phenology
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
 |  |
Figures
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Roberts 1995)
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Wiehle 1937)
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Wiehle 1937)
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Locket & Millidge 1953)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Løvbrekke unpubl.)
Tip of pedipalp
(Locket & Millidge 1953)
Chelicerae, frontal view
(Locket & Millidge 1953)
Epigyne
(Roberts 1995)
Epigyne
(Wiehle 1937)
Epigyne
(Locket & Millidge 1953)
Epigyne, ventral view
(Esyunin & Efimik 1995)
Epigyne
(Løvbrekke unpubl.)
Epigyne
(Zamani et al. 2021)
Epigyne
(Morka unpubl.)
Vulva
(Wiehle 1937)
Vulva
(Esyunin & Efimik 1995)
Vulva
(Løvbrekke unpubl.)
Vulva, dorsal view
(Morka unpubl.)
Chelicerae, frontal view
(Wiehle 1937)
Habitus
(Wiehle 1937)
Distribution List
"No references" does not mean that the species does not occur in this country, but that we have not yet inserted the reference for it. We are working on it.
References
Aakra K, Hauge E (2003) Checklist of Norwegian spiders (Arachnida: Araneae), including Svalbard and Jan Mayen. Norwegian Journal of Entomology 50: 109-129 
Agnarsson I (1996) Íslenskar köngulær Fjölrit Náttúrufræðistofnunar 31: 1-175
Arnold K (2001) Beitrag zur Spinnenfauna (Arachnida, Araneae) des Fürstentums Liechtenstein. Berichte der Botanisch-Zoologischen Gesellschaft Liechtenstein-Sargans-Werdenberg 28: 211-244
Barrientos J A, Febrer J B (2020) Arañas (Arachnida, Araneae) de Menorca (Islas Baleares, España). 3: nuevos datos. Revista Ibérica de Aracnología 36: 69-78
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)
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
Bosmans R, Van Keer K (2017) Een herziene soortenlijst van de Belgische spinnen (Araneae). Nieuwsbrief van de Belgische Arachnologische Vereniging 32: 39-69
Branco V V, Morano E, Cardoso P (2019) An update to the Iberian spider checklist (Araneae). Zootaxa 4614: 201-254
Esyunin S L, Efimik V E (1995) Remarks on the Ural spider fauna, 4. New records of spider species (excluding Linyphiidae) from the Urals (Arachnida Aranei). Arthropoda Selecta 4(1): 71-91
Esyunin S L, Efimik V E (1996a) Catalogue of the spiders (Arachnida, Aranei) of the Urals. KMK Scientific Press, Moscow, 228 pp.
Gajdoš P, Svatoň J, Sloboda J (1999) Katalóg pavúkov Slovenska. Catalogue of Slovakian spiders. Ústav kr. ekol. SAV, Bratislava, 337 pp.
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
Ivanov V V (2013) The checklist of Belarusian spiders (Arachnida, Araneae). Zoology and Ecology 4: 293-311
Knoflach B, Thaler K (1998) Kugelspinnen und verwandte Familien von Österreich: ökofaunistische Übersicht (Araneae: Theridiidae, Anapidae, Mysmenidae, Nesticidae). Stapfia 667-712
Koponen S, Fritzén N R, Pajunen T (2016) Checklist of spiders in Finland (Araneae). 6th version, December 2016, online at http://biolcoll.utu.fi/arach/checklist_of_spiders_in_Finland.htm
Kostanjšek R, Kuntner M (2015) Araneae Sloveniae: a national spider species checklist. ZooKeys 474: 1-91
Kronestedt T (2001) Checklist of Spiders (Araneae) in Sweden [Preliminary version February 2001]
Lavery A (2019) A revised checklist of the spiders of Great Britain and Ireland. Arachnology 18: 196-212
Le Peru B (2007) Catalogue et répartition des araignées de France. Revue Arachnologique 16: 1-468
Locket G H, Millidge A F (1953) British spiders. Vol. II. Ray Society, London, 449 pp.
Løvbrekke H (unpubl.)
Mammola S, Pavlek M, Huber B A, Isaia M, Ballarin F, Tolve M, Čupić I, Hesselberg T, Lunghi E, Mouron S, Graco-Roza C, Cardoso P (2022) A trait database and updated checklist for European subterranean spiders. Scientific Data 9(236): 1-13
Maurer R, Hänggi A (1990) Katalog der schweizerischen Spinnen. Documenta Faunistica Helvetiae 12
Morka G H (unpubl.)
Polchaninova N, Prokopenko E (2019) An updated checklist of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Left-Bank Ukraine. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 57: 60-64 & App
Roberts M J (1995) Collins Field Guide: Spiders of Britain & Northern Europe. HarperCollins, London, 383 pp.
Rozwałka R, Stanska M (2008) Check-list of spiders (Araneae) of Poland. 1. December 2008. online at http://www.arachnologia.edu.pl/en/species/8-spiders-of-poland.html
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
Samu F, Szinetár C (1999) Bibliographic check list of the Hungarian spider fauna. Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 11: 161-184
Wiehle H (1937) Spinnentiere oder Arachnoidea, VIII. 26: Familie Theridiidae oder Haubennetzspinnen (Kugelspinnen). Die Tierwelt Deutschlands 33: 119-222
WSC (2026) World Spider Catalog. Version 27. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (13.2.2026) doi: 10.24436/2
Zamani A, Nadolny A A, Esyunin S L, Marusik Y M (2021) New data on the spider fauna of Iran (Arachnida: Araneae), part VIII. Zoosystematica Rossica 30: 279-297