Gnaphosidae  Banks, 1892 / Zelotes  Gistel, 1848   132 species

Zelotes erebeus (Thorell, 1871)

Description

Tibial apophysis slightly S-shaped. Embolus spirally twisted. Keel with long, fine tip. Epigyne with ear-like structures, distance between them = length of cuticular bars. Prosoma black. Opisthosoma black, with scuticula.

Body length male: 5.6-7.3 mm
Body length female: 5.6-9.5 mm
Additional information

In open and xerothermic locations (vineyards, rocky steppes, dry meadows), up to 1200 m.

Distribution
  Presence
  No data
Distribution comment: records from European Russia should be verified (cf. Zelotes khostensis)
Global distribution (WSC 2026): Europe, Turkey
Phenology
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
 male  female
Figures
Distribution List
Austria   (Thaler & Knoflach, 2004b) ||| Belgium   (Bosmans & Van Keer, 2017) ||| Bosnia and Herzegovina   (Komnenov, 2010) ||| Bulgaria   (Blagoev et al., 2018) ||| Croatia   (Milosevic, 2002) ||| Czechia   (Růžička & Řezáč, 2022a) ||| France   (Le Peru, 2007) ||| Germany   (Blick et al., 2016) ||| Greece   (Bosmans & Chatzaki, 2005) ||| Hungary   (Samu & Szinetár, 1999) ||| Italy   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| North Macedonia   (Komnenov, 2014) ||| Poland   (Rozwałka et al., 2016a) ||| Portugal   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Romania   (Weiss & Petrișor, 1999) ||| Serbia   (Grbić et al., 2021) ||| Slovakia   (Gajdoš et al., 1999) ||| Slovenia   (Kostanjšek & Kuntner, 2015) ||| Switzerland   (Maurer & Hänggi, 1990) ||| Turkey (Asia)   (Akpınar et al., 2016; Danışman et al., 2025a) ||| Ukraine   (Polchaninova et al., 2021) |||
References

Akpınar A, Varol M İ, El-Hennawy H K (2016) New records to the spider fauna of Turkey (Araneae: Eutichuridae, Gnaphosidae). Serket 15: 41-43 pdf

Barrientos J A, De Mas E, Gavín-Centol M P, Pertegal C, Salazar B, Fenoy E, Balanzategui I, Mederos J, Montserrat M, Barranco P, Moya-Laraño J (2024c) Arañas (Arachnida: Araneae) del Parque Natural de Cabo de Gata-Níjar (Almería, España); 2ª aportación. Revista Ibérica de Aracnología 45: 27-59 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

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 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 K (2017) Een herziene soortenlijst van de Belgische spinnen (Araneae). Nieuwsbrief van de Belgische Arachnologische Vereniging 32: 39-69 pdf

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

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

Grbić G, Hänggi A, Krnjajić S (2021) Spiders (Araneae) of Subotica Sandland (Serbia): additional arguments in environmental protection. Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 67: 15-61 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

Jézéquel J F (1962a) Contribution à l'étude des Zelotes femelles (Araneida, Labidognatha, Drassodidae "Gnaphosidae") de la fauna française. Verhandlungen der Deutschen Zoologischen Gesellschaft (Zool. Anz.) 25(Suppl.): 519-532 pdf

Komnenov M (2010) Checklist of spiders (Araneae) of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Uzizaž i Biospeld 5(2009): 52-69 pdf

Komnenov M (2014) Spider fauna of the Osogovo Mt. Range, Northeastern Macedonia. Fauna Balkana 2: 1-267 pdf

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

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

Maurer R, Hänggi A (1990) Katalog der schweizerischen Spinnen. Documenta Faunistica Helvetiae 12 pdf

Miller F (1967) Studien über die Kopulationsorgane der Spinnengattung Zelotes, Micaria, Robertus und Dipoena nebst Beschreibung einiger neuen oder unvollkommen bekannten Spinnenarten. Přírodovědné práce ústavů Československé Akademie Věd v Brně (N.S.) 1: 251-298 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

Otto S (2022) Caucasian spiders. A faunistic database on the spiders of the Caucasus Ecoregion. Database version 02.2022. Internet: caucasus-spiders.info.

Polchaninova N, Gnelitsa V, Terekhova V, Iosypchuk A (2021) New and rare spider species (Arachnida, Araneae) from Ukraine. Zoodiversity 55: 95-112 pdf

Roberts M J (1995) Collins Field Guide: Spiders of Britain & Northern Europe. HarperCollins, London, 383 pp. pdf

Rozwałka R, Rutkowski T, Sienkiewicz P, Zawal A (2016a) Zelotes erebeus (Thorell, 1871) (Araneae: Gnaphosidae) in Poland and its distribution in Europe. Entomologica Fennica 27: 1-7 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

Thaler K, Knoflach B (2004b) Zur Faunistik der Spinnen (Araneae) von Österreich: Gnaphosidae, Thomisidae (Dionycha pro parte). Linzer Biologische Beiträge 36: 417-484 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 (20.5.2026) doi: 10.24436/2 pdf

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