Linyphiidae  Blackwall, 1859 / Mecynargus  Kulczyński, 1894   11 species

Mecynargus paetulus (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1875)

Description

Tibial apophysis blunt. Epigyne posteriorly with medially protruding epigynal plate, without structures. Prosoma brown, eye region, median spot, radial stripes and margin darker. Male: highest in the range of fovea. Legs yellow-brown. Opisthosoma black-grey.

Body length male: 1.6-1.8 mm
Body length female: 1.9 mm
Additional information

In ground litter, grass, sphagnum and under stones, arctic-alpine species.

Character states from linyphiid key
Distribution
  Presence
  No data
Distribution comment: Netherlands: misidentification (Koomen pers. comm.)
Global distribution (WSC 2026): Europe, Russia (Europe to Far East), Alaska, Canada
Phenology
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
 male  female
Figures
Distribution List
Austria   (Thaler, 1999b) ||| Bulgaria   (Blagoev et al., 2018) ||| Finland   (Koponen et al., 2016) ||| France   (Le Peru, 2007) ||| Germany  Removed (Blick et al., 2016) ||| Italy   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| Latvia   (Cera, 2018) ||| Liechtenstein   (Arnold, 2001) ||| Netherlands  Removed (van Helsdingen, 2025a) ||| Norway   (Aakra & Hauge, 2003) ||| Russia, Northern   (Nekhaeva, 2020) ||| Sweden   (Kronestedt, 2001) ||| Switzerland   (Maurer & Hänggi, 1990) ||| United Kingdom   (Lavery, 2019) |||
References

Aakra K, Hauge E (2003) Checklist of Norwegian spiders (Arachnida: Araneae), including Svalbard and Jan Mayen. Norwegian Journal of Entomology 50: 109-129 pdf

Arnold K (2001) Beitrag zur Spinnenfauna (Arachnida, Araneae) des Fürstentums Liechtenstein. Berichte der Botanisch-Zoologischen Gesellschaft Liechtenstein-Sargans-Werdenberg 28: 211-244 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

Cera I (2018) The checklist of Latvian spiders (Arachnida: Araneae). Environmental and Experimental Biology 16: 139-152 pdf

Helsdingen P J van (2025a) Catalogus van de Nederlandse spinnen. Versie 2025.1. 249 pp. 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

Koponen S, Fritzén N R, Pajunen T (2016) Checklist of spiders in Finland (Araneae). 6th version, December 2016, online at http://biolcoll.utu.fi/arach/checklist_of_spiders_in_Finland.htm pdf

Kronestedt T (2001) Checklist of Spiders (Araneae) in Sweden [Preliminary version February 2001] pdf

Lavery A (2019) A revised checklist of the spiders of Great Britain and Ireland. Arachnology 18: 196-212 pdf

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

Locket G H, Millidge A F, Merrett P (1974) British Spiders, Volume III. Ray Society, London, 315 pp. pdf

Løvbrekke H (unpubl.)

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

Nekhaeva A A (2020) On the spider fauna (Arachnida: Aranei) of the Kanin Peninsula and Kolguev Island, Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Russia. Arthropoda Selecta 29: 387-398 pdf

Roberts M J (1987) The spiders of Great Britain and Ireland. Volume 2: Linyphiidae and checklist. Harley Books Colchester, England, 204 pp. pdf

Thaler K (1999b) Beiträge zur Spinnenfauna von Nordtirol - 6. Linyphiidae 2: Erigoninae (sensu Wiehle) (Arachnida: Araneida). Veröffentlichungen des Tiroler Landesmuseums Ferdinandeum 79: 215-264 pdf

Wiehle H (1960a) Spinnentiere oder Arachnoidea (Araneae). XI. Micryphantidae-Zwergspinnen. Die Tierwelt Deutschlands 47: 1-620 pdf

WSC (2026) World Spider Catalog. Version 27. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (13.2.2026) doi: 10.24436/2 pdf

Updates
02-10-2025 Distribution update Detail
03-02-2022 Distribution insert Detail
03-02-2022 Distribution update Detail
02-10-2020 Distribution update Detail
02-03-2015 Distribution update Detail
12-02-2015 Image insert