Atypus affinis Eichwald, 1830
Description
Male
Pedipalp: with longitudinal depression on femur. Mostly black. Sternum with bright median area. First pair of sigilla more than one diameter apart from margin of sternum. Metatarsus IV: dorsally without spines. Tarsus male: always bright. Posterior spinnerets distinctly 3 segmented (in dorsal and ventral view).
Body length male: 7-9 mmFemale
Vulva with 2 pairs of receptacula seminis in the same line. Prosoma female: yellow-brown to black. Opisthosoma: often completely bright. Legs female: yellow-brown to black.
Body length female: 10-15 mmAdditional information
In dry, open pinewoods and heathland, in south-exposed dry meadows and on rocky slopes, up to 500 m. Capture tube over ground 12-17 cm, retreat tube under ground 20-45 cm, diameter up to 13 mm. Colonies of up to 200 specimens at densities of up to 90 individuals/m2. Cocoons with 30-160 eggs at the lower end of tube, mature after 4 years. Females up to 8 years old. In contrast to the females, males can walk around and can be captured e.g. in pitfall traps.
This species can bite humans (Nentwig et al., 2013). Pain has been described as a light burning sensation with some associated local redness, disappearing soon.
Distribution
Phenology
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
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Figures
Pedipalp
(Loksa 1969)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Locket & Millidge 1951)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Kraus & Baur 1974)
Pedipalp, prolateral view
(Barrientos et al. 2023b)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Barrientos et al. 2023b)
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Barrientos et al. 2023b)
Pedipalp, retrolateral view
(Almquist 2006)
Pedipalp, ventral view
(Almquist 2006)
Bulbus
(Schwendinger 1990)
Sternum, ventral view
(Almquist 2006)
Spinnerets
(Almquist 2006)
Habitus, dorsal view
(Almquist 2006)
Vulva
(Schwendinger 1990)
Vulva
(Loksa 1969)
Chelicerae, ventral view
(Almquist 2006)
Metatarsus and tarsus I, ventral view
(Almquist 2006)
Habitus
(Loksa 1969)
Habitus
(Locket & Millidge 1951)
Eyes, dorsal view
(Loksa 1969)
Eyes, dorsal view
(Locket & Millidge 1951)
Sternum
(Kraus & Baur 1974)
Chelicerae (upper juv. and f, lower m), lateral view
(Emerit 1984)
Chelicerae, lateral view
(Loksa 1969)
Chelicerae, lateral view
(Locket & Millidge 1951)
Chelicerae, lateral view
(Locket & Millidge 1951)
Spinnerets
(Miller 1947)
Spinnerets
(Loksa 1969)
Book lungs
(Locket & Millidge 1951)
Habitus, ventral view
(Brændegaard 1966)
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
Almquist S (2006) Swedish Araneae, part 1 – families Atypidae to Hahniidae (Linyphiidae excluded). Insect Systematics & Evolution, Supplement 62(2005): 1-284 
Barrientos J A, Hernández-Corral J, García-Teba J P (2023b) Arañas (Arachnida: Araneae) del Parque Natural del Carrascal de la Font Roja (Alicante, España). Revista Ibérica de Aracnología 42: 167-188
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, 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
Brændegaard J (1966) Edderkopper: Eller Spindlere I Danmarks Fauna 72: 1-224
Deltshev C D, Ćurčić B P M, Blagoev GA (2003b) The spiders of Serbia. Inst. Zoology, Fac. Biology, Belgrade & Inst. Zoology, Bulg. Acad. Sci., Sofia. 832 pp.
Emerit M (1984) Les glandes tibiales des Telemidae: une structure inédite localisée sur l'appendice locomoteur des araignées. Comptes Rendus Hebdomadaires des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences Paris (3) 299: 1-4
Frick H (unpubl.) .
Gajdoš P, Svatoň J, Sloboda J (1999) Katalóg pavúkov Slovenska. Catalogue of Slovakian spiders. Ústav kr. ekol. SAV, Bratislava, 337 pp.
Helsdingen P J van (2025a) Catalogus van de Nederlandse spinnen. Versie 2025.1. 249 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
Komnenov M (2010) Checklist of spiders (Araneae) of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Uzizaž i Biospeld 5(2009): 52-69
Komnenov M (2014) Spider fauna of the Osogovo Mt. Range, Northeastern Macedonia. Fauna Balkana 2: 1-267
Kostanjšek R, Kuntner M (2015) Araneae Sloveniae: a national spider species checklist. ZooKeys 474: 1-91
Kraus O, Baur H (1974) Die Atypidae der West-Paläarktis. Systematik, Verbreitung und Biologie (Arach.: Araneae). Abhandlungen und Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg (NF) 17: 85-116
Kreuels M, Staudt A, Christian S (2019) Die Spinnenfauna von Luxemburg – eine Zusammenstellung der Nachweise aus den Jahren 1906-2018 (Arachnida: Araneae). Bulletin de la Société des naturalistes luxembourgeois 121: 203-230
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 (1951) British spiders. Vol. I. Ray Society, London, 310 pp.
Loksa I (1969) Pokok I-Araneae I. Fauna Hungariae 97: 1-133
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
Miller F (1947) Pavoucí zvírena hadcových stepí u Mohelna. Archiv Svazu na Výzkum a Ochranu Přírody i Krajiny v Zemi Moravskoslezské 7: 1-107
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].
Nentwig W, Gnädinger M, Fuchs J, Ceschi A (2013) A two year study of verified spider bites in Switzerland and a review of the European spider bite literature. Toxicon 73: 104-110
Nolan M (2020) Notes on ‘Irish’ spiders (Arachnida): Atypus affinis Eichwald (Atypidae) and Entelecara errata O. P.-Cambridge (Linyphiidae) removed from the Irish list; Cryptachaea blattea (Urquhart) (Theridiidae) new to Ireland. Bulletin of the Irish Biogeographical Society 44: 189-204
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
Scharff N, Gudik-Sørensen O (2006) Katalog over Danmarks edderkopper (Araneae). Catalogue of the spiders of Denmark (Araneae). Entomologiske Meddelelser 74: 3-71
Schwendinger P J (1990) A synopsis of the genus Atypus (Araneae, Atypidae). Zoologica Scripta 19: 353-366
Thaler K, Knoflach B (2002b) Zur Faunistik der Spinnen (Araneae) von Österreich: Atypidae, Haplogynae, Eresidae, Zodariidae, Mimetidae. Linzer Biologische Beiträge 34: 413-444
Vasiliev A I, Mikhailov K G (2023) Annotated checklist of spiders (Araneae) of the Republic of Moldova. Invertebrate Zoology 20: 307-342
Vrenozi B, Jäger P (2012) A faunistic study on ground-dwelling spiders (Araneae) in the Tirana district, Albania. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 44: 81-87
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
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
| 03-02-2026 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 27-07-2025 | Image insert | |
| 31-05-2025 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 11-08-2024 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 31-01-2024 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 13-10-2023 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 14-08-2023 | Image insert | |
| 16-11-2020 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 08-06-2020 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 06-05-2020 | Distribution insert | Detail |
| 27-08-2019 | Distribution update | Detail |
| 26-11-2013 | Datasheet update | Detail |