Araneus circe (Audouin, 1826)
Description
Male
Male palp with wing-like broadened distal apophysis. Epigyne with narrow, slit-like median part beneath scapus. Prosoma dark brown, eye region sometimes brighter. Sternum dark brown, with yellow longish spot. Chelicerae dark brown. Legs light brown, with dark and broad annulations. Tibia II male: with long and stout spines, distal spines on distinct tubercles. Opisthosoma light and dark brown patterned, striking cross-shaped white pattern between humps.
Opisthosoma anteriorly light grey, medially with small white cross which separated from the design of the posterior half of the opisthosoma. Posterior design of opisthosoma darker and brown, with median pattern resembling the Araneus-type.
Body length male: 13.5-14.5 mmFemale
Opisthosoma anteriorly light grey, medially with small white cross which separated from the design of the posterior half of the opisthosoma. Posterior design of opisthosoma darker and brown, with median pattern resembling the Araneus-type.
Body length female: 15-21.2 mmAdditional information
On rocks and buildings
Distribution
Figures
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Wiehle 1931)
Embolic division
(Thaler 1991b)
Palpal apophysis
(Heimer & Nentwig 1991)
Palpal apophysis
(Loksa 1972)
Tibia II
(Wiehle 1931)
Epigyne, scapus lifted
(Wiehle 1931)
Epigyne
(Loksa 1972)
Epigyne
(Loksa 1972)
Habitus
(Loksa 1972)
Tibia
(Loksa 1972)
Opisthosoma, dorsal view
(Kolosváry 1935a)
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
Arnold K (2001) Beitrag zur Spinnenfauna (Arachnida, Araneae) des Fürstentums Liechtenstein. Berichte der Botanisch-Zoologischen Gesellschaft Liechtenstein-Sargans-Werdenberg 28: 211-244 
Benhacene R, Adjami A, Hadjeb A, Kermiche K, Ouakid M L (2023) Bibliographic checklist of the Algerian spider fauna (Araneae). Zootaxa 5352: 301-357
Benhalima S, Bosmans R (2024) First historical checklist of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) from Morocco, between 1840–2024. Zootaxa 5555: 407-535
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 (2018) A small collection of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) from the River Vjosa, Albania – with an updated spider checklist of Albania. Acta ZooBot Austria 155: 213-232
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 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
Branco V V, Morano E, Cardoso P (2019) An update to the Iberian spider checklist (Araneae). Zootaxa 4614: 201-254
Danışman T, Kunt K B, Özkütük R S, Coşar İ (2024a) The checklist of the spiders of Turkey. Version 2024 [last updated 01 January 2024], online at http://www.spidersofturkey.info
Deltshev C, Vrenozi B, Blagoev G, Lazarov S (2011b) Spiders of Albania – faunistic and zoogeographical review (Arachnida: Araneae). Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 63: 125-144
El-Hennawy H K (2017a) A list of Egyptian spiders (revised in 2017). Serket 15: 167-183
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
Grbac I, Katušić L, Lukić M (2019) Catalogue of spiders (Araneae) deposited in the Croatian Natural History Museum. Natura Croatica 28: 185-269
Heimer S, Nentwig W (1991) Spinnen Mitteleuropas. Paul Parey Berlin
Kolosváry G (1935a) Neue Beiträge zur Biologie der Tierwelt der Ungarländischen Junipereten. Folia Zoologica et Hydrobiologica, Rigā 7: 203-216
Komnenov M (2010) Checklist of spiders (Araneae) of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Uzizaž i Biospeld 5(2009): 52-69
Komnenov M (2017) New data on spider fauna (Araneae) of Shar Mountain, north-western Macedonia. Proceedings of the 5th Congress of the Ecologists of Macedonia, with international participation (Ohrid, 19th-22nd October 2016). Special issues of the Macedonian Ecological Society 13: 44-61
Kostanjšek R, Kuntner M (2015) Araneae Sloveniae: a national spider species checklist. ZooKeys 474: 1-91
Loksa I (1972) Pokok II-Araneae II. Fauna Hungariae 109: 1-112
Naumova M, Lazarov S, Deltshev C (2019a) Faunistic diversity of the spiders in Montenegro (Arachnida: Araneae). Ecologica Montenegrina 22: 50-89
Otto S (2022) Caucasian spiders. A faunistic database on the spiders of the Caucasus Ecoregion. Database version 02.2022. Internet: caucasus-spiders.info.
Pantini P, Isaia M (2019) Araneae.it: the online catalog of Italian spiders, with addenda on other arachnid orders occurring in Italy (Arachnida: Araneae, Opiliones, Palpigradi, Pseudoscorpionida, Scorpiones, Solifugae). Fragmenta Entomologica 51: 127-152
Polchaninova N, Prokopenko E (2019) An updated checklist of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Left-Bank Ukraine. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 57: 60-64 & App
Ponomarev A V (2022) Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of the southeast of the Russian Plain: catalogue, the fauna specific features. SSC RAS Publishers, Rostov-on-Don, 640 pp.
Samu F, Szinetár C (1999) Bibliographic check list of the Hungarian spider fauna. Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 11: 161-184
Thaler K (1991b) Pachygnatha terilis n.sp. aus den Südalpen, mit Bemerkungen zu einigen Araneidae der Alpenländer (Arachnida: Aranei, Tetragnathidae, Araneidae). Berichte des Naturwissenschaftlich-Medizinischen Vereins in Innsbruck 78: 47-57
Vrenozi B, Jäger P (2013) Spiders (Araneae) from Albania and Kosovo in the collection of Carl Friedrich Roewer. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 46: 17-26
Wiehle H (1931) Spinnentiere oder Arachnoidea, VI. 27: Familie Araneidae. Die Tierwelt Deutschlands 23: 47-136
WSC (2025) World Spider Catalog. Version 26. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (28.2.2025) doi: 10.24436/2
Updates
| 20-12-2024 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 18-12-2024 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 30-10-2023 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 30-10-2023 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 26-05-2023 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 19-06-2021 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 25-01-2021 | Gallery image insert | |
| 08-06-2020 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 02-03-2015 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 15-10-2013 | Distribution update | Detail |