Kryptonesticus eremita (Simon, 1880)
Description
Male
Conductor compact. Paracymbium long and unbranched with rounded end. Prosoma light yellow, prosoma length: 1.7-2.3 mm. Chelicerae with 3 promarginal teeth and 5 retromarginal denticles.
Body length male: 3.7-4.7 mmFemale
Epigyne constricted to a narrow bar at posterior margin. Prosoma light yellowish, without a borderline, with a small dark median band. Prosoma length: 1.7-2.6. Sternum and appendages light yellowish. Eyes well developed, diameter of ALE 3 times the diameter of AME, PME almost 2 diameters apart. Opisthosoma light yellowish, almost uniform or with a faint pattern.
Body length female: 3.8-6 mmAdditional information
In caves and cellars.
Since a few decades, this species shows some spreading tendencies within Europe. Nevertheless, it shall not be listed as alien or invasive because it is native for Europe.
Troglophile species (Mammola et al., 2022)
Distribution
Figures
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Pesarini unpubl.)
Pedipalp
(Brignoli 1971d)
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Thaler 1981b)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Isaia et al. 2011)
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Vink & Dupérré 2011)
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Lecigne 2018b)
Pedipalp, dorsal view
(Szabó & Szinetár 2018)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Szabó & Szinetár 2018)
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Szabó & Szinetár 2018)
Epigyne
(Brignoli 1971d)
Epigyne
(Jäger 1998a)
Epigyne
(Pesarini unpubl.)
Epigyne, ventral view
(Isaia et al. 2011)
Epigyne, ventral view
(Vink & Dupérré 2011)
Epigyne
(Gallon & Farr 2018)
Epigyne
(Gallon & Farr 2018)
Epigyne
(Lecigne 2018b)
Vulva
(Brignoli 1971d)
Vulva, dorsal view
(Vink & Dupérré 2011)
Vulva, dorsal view
(Szabó & Szinetár 2018)
Vulva, ventral view
(Szabó & Szinetár 2018)
Habitus
(Vink & Dupérré 2011)
Chelicerae, ventral view
(Brignoli 1971d)
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
Barrientos J A, Fadrique F (2024) La "Cova Urbana" de Tarragona (España), singularidad aracnológica. Revista Ibérica de Aracnología 43: 153-156 
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, 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
Brignoli P M (1971d) Note su ragni cavernicoli italiani (Araneae). Fragmenta Entomologica 7: 121-229
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
Deltshev C, Vrenozi B, Blagoev G, Lazarov S (2011b) Spiders of Albania – faunistic and zoogeographical review (Arachnida: Araneae). Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 63: 125-144
Drensky P (1936) Katalog der echten Spinnen (Araneae) der Balkanhalbinsel. Opis na Paiatzite ot Balkanikia polouostrow. Spisanié na Beulgarskata Akademia na Naoukite 32: 1-223
Gallon R, Farr G (2018) Kryptonesticus eremita (Simon, 1880), a Nesticidae spider new to Britain from Flat Holm Island. Newsletter of the British Arachnological Society 141: 13-15
Isaia M, Lana E, Paschetta M, Pantini P, Schönhofer A L, Christian E, Badino G (2011) Aracnidi sotterranei delle Alpi Occidentali italiane (Arachnida: Araneae, Opiliones, Palpigradi, Pseudoscorpiones)/ Subterranean Arachnids of the Western Italian Alps (Arachnida: Araneae, Opiliones, Palpigradi, Pseudoscorpiones). Monografie Del Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali Torino 47: 1-325
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
Jäger P (1998a) Weitere Funde von Nesticus eremita (Araneae: Nesticidae) in Süddeutschland mit Angaben zur Taxonomie im Vergleich zu N. cellulanus. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 15: 13-20
Knoflach B, Thaler K (1998) Kugelspinnen und verwandte Familien von Österreich: ökofaunistische Übersicht (Araneae: Theridiidae, Anapidae, Mysmenidae, Nesticidae). Stapfia 667-712
Komnenov M (2010) Checklist of spiders (Araneae) of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Uzizaž i Biospeld 5(2009): 52-69
Kostanjšek R, Kuntner M (2015) Araneae Sloveniae: a national spider species checklist. ZooKeys 474: 1-91
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
Lecigne S (2018b) Récits de chasses aranéologiques récentes dans plusieurs départements de France. Redécouverte de Philodromus buchari Kubcová, 2004 (Araneae: Philodromidae) et confirmation de la présence de Theridion harmsi Wunderlich, 2011 (Araneae: Theridiidae). Nieuwsbrief van de Belgische Arachnologische Vereniging 33: 59-99
Lissner J (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
Mikhailov K G (2013) The spiders (Arachnida: Aranei) of Russia and adjacent countries: a non-annotated checklist. Arthropoda Selecta, Supplement 3: 1-262
Pesarini C (unpubl.)
Szabó G, Szinetár C (2018) [First records of the troglofil spider species, Kryptonesticus eremita (Simon, 1880) from Hungary (Araneae, Nesticidae)]. Biológia Savaria Természettudományi és Sporttudományi Közlemények 17: 109-115
Thaler K (1981b) Über Nesticus idriacus Roewer 1931 (Arachnida: Araneae: Nesticidae). Senckenbergiana Biologica 61: 271-276
Vink C J, Dupérré N (2011) Nesticus eremita (Araneae: Nesticidae): redescription of a potentially invasive European spider found in New Zealand. Journal of Arachnology 39: 511-514
WSC (2026) World Spider Catalog. Version 27. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (13.2.2026) doi: 10.24436/2
Updates
| 05-10-2025 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 15-07-2024 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 30-05-2023 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 19-01-2021 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 08-06-2020 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 04-10-2018 | Image insert | |
| 04-10-2018 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 20-09-2018 | Image insert | |
| 15-04-2018 | Image insert | |
| 14-04-2018 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 24-04-2015 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 28-06-2014 | Distribution update | Detail |