Thomisidae  Sundevall, 1833 / Xysticus  C. L. Koch, 1835   82 species

Xysticus cristatus (Clerck, 1757)

Description
Male

Male palp with 2 apophyses: one median, hammer-shaped, whereas the branches are unequally long and tapering. Second apophysis lying prolaterally, punnet-shaped with small inconspicuous tooth in the middle. Female: palp provided with dense robust spines. Ventral tibial apophysis broad at base and slanting distal edge. Retrolateral apophysis broad at base and tapering toward the tip. Embolus characteristic, fine, divided into 2 small tips at its end. Prosoma contrastingly white and dark brown, laterally with broad black stripes, median triangle large, with distinct black spot posteriorly, margined arc-like on each side by bright stripes. Sternum medially white, with small brown spots or marbled brown on beige background (very variable), margin of sternum yellow to beige-brown. Chelicerae brown, to beige, frontally with several short and one longer spine. Legs brown, longitudinally striped, mostly darker dorsally, retrolaterally with longish hairless areas. Opisthosoma very variable in colour (female slightly brighter overall), distinctly patterned with characteristic light brown-ochre triangles on dark background. Spinnerets brown, with white border.

Body length male: 3.5-6.1 mm
Female

Epigyne consists of 2 distinctly sclerotised, C-shaped pits and a median septum not too slender, pits can be plugged with a dark secretion drop. Vulva with entrance duct characteristically bent toward anterior part and then strongly toward posterior before passing over to receptacula. 

Body length female: 4.7-8.0 mm
Additional information

Near the ground on low plants, euryoecious, occurring up to approximately 1000 m.

Distribution
  Presence
  No data
Global distribution (WSC 2026): Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, Russia (Europe to South Siberia), Kazakhstan, Iran, Central Asia, Nepal, China, Korea, Japan. Introduced to Canada, USA
Phenology
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
 male  female
Figures
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.

Albania   (Deltshev et al., 2011b; Vrenozi, 2012; Blick, 2018) ||| Algeria   (Benhacene et al., 2023) ||| Andorra   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Armenia   (Zarikian et al., 2023b) ||| Austria   (Thaler & Knoflach, 2004b) ||| Azerbaijan   (Otto, 2022) ||| Belarus   (Ivanov, 2013) ||| Belgium   (Bosmans & Van Keer, 2017) ||| Bosnia and Herzegovina   (Komnenov, 2010) ||| Bulgaria   (Blagoev et al., 2018) ||| Croatia   (Milosevic, 2002) ||| Czechia   (Růžička & Řezáč, 2022a) ||| Denmark   (Scharff & Gudik-Sørensen, 2006) ||| Egypt   (El-Hennawy, 2017a) ||| Estonia   (Vilbaste, 1987) ||| Faroe Islands   (Lissner et al., 2016b) ||| Finland   (Koponen et al., 2016) ||| France   (Le Peru, 2007) ||| Georgia   (Otto, 2022) ||| Germany   (Blick et al., 2016) ||| Greece   (Bosmans & Chatzaki, 2005) ||| Hungary   (Samu & Szinetár, 1999) ||| Iceland   (Agnarsson, 1996) ||| Ireland   (Lavery, 2019) ||| Italy   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| Italy / Sardinia   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| Kosovo   (Vrenozi & Jäger, 2013) ||| Latvia   (Cera, 2018) ||| Libya   (Elkrew et al., 2024) ||| Liechtenstein   (Arnold, 2001) ||| Lithuania   (Biteniekytė & Rėlys, 2012) ||| Luxembourg   (Hermann, 1998; Kreuels et al., 2019) ||| Moldova   (Vasiliev & Mikhailov, 2023) ||| Montenegro   (Naumova et al., 2019a) ||| Netherlands   (van Helsdingen, 2025a) ||| North Macedonia   (Komnenov, 2017) ||| Northern Ireland   (Lavery, 2019) ||| Norway   (Aakra & Hauge, 2003) ||| Poland   (Rozwałka & Stanska, 2008) ||| Portugal   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Romania   (Weiss & Petrișor, 1999) ||| Russia, Central   (Ponomarev, 2022) ||| Russia, Eastern   (Esyunin & Efimik, 1996a) ||| Russia, Kaliningrad Region   (Schikora, 1997) ||| Russia, Northern   (Nekhaeva, 2020) ||| Russia, Southern   (Otto, 2022; Ponomarev, 2022) ||| Russia, Western   (no references) ||| Serbia   (Stanković, 2023) ||| Slovakia   (Gajdoš et al., 1999) ||| Slovenia   (Kostanjšek & Kuntner, 2015; Gregorič & Kuntner, 2009) ||| Spain   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Sweden   (Kronestedt, 2001) ||| Switzerland   (Maurer & Hänggi, 1990) ||| Turkey (Asia)   (Danışman et al., 2025a) ||| Turkey (Europe)   (Demircan Aksan & Topçu, 2022c) ||| Ukraine   (Polchaninova & Prokopenko, 2019) ||| United Kingdom   (Lavery, 2019) |||
References

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