Araneidae  Clerck, 1757 / Araneus  Clerck, 1757   26 species

Araneus circe  (Audouin, 1826)

Description
Male

Male palp with wing-like broadened distal apophysis. Epigyne with narrow, slit-like median part beneath scapus. Prosoma dark brown, eye region sometimes brighter. Sternum dark brown, with yellow longish spot. Chelicerae dark brown. Legs light brown, with dark and broad annulations. Tibia II male: with long and stout spines, distal spines on distinct tubercles. Opisthosoma light and dark brown patterned, striking cross-shaped white pattern between humps.

Opisthosoma anteriorly light grey, medially with small white cross which separated from the design of the posterior half of the opisthosoma. Posterior design of opisthosoma darker and brown, with median pattern resembling the Araneus-type.

Body length male: 13.5-14.5 mm
Female

Opisthosoma anteriorly light grey, medially with small white cross which separated from the design of the posterior half of the opisthosoma. Posterior design of opisthosoma darker and brown, with median pattern resembling the Araneus-type.

Body length female: 15-21.2 mm
Additional information

On rocks and buildings

Distribution
  Presence
  Not established
  No data
Distribution comment: Germany: see comment by Blick et al. (2016)
Global distribution (WSC 2024): Southern Europe, Egypt, Turkey, Caucasus, Iran
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; Blick, 2018) ||| Algeria   (Benhacene et al., 2023) ||| Austria   (no references) ||| Bosnia and Herzegovina   (Komnenov, 2010) ||| Bulgaria   (Blagoev et al., 2018) ||| Croatia   (Grbac et al., 2019) ||| Egypt   (El-Hennawy, 2017a) ||| France   (no references) ||| Georgia   (Otto, 2022) ||| Germany   (Blick et al., 2016) ||| Greece   (no references) ||| Greece / Crete   (Bosmans et al., 2013) ||| Hungary   (Samu & Szinetár, 1999) ||| Italy   (Pantini & Isaia, 2019) ||| Italy / Sicily   (Pantini & Isaia, 2019) ||| Kosovo   (Vrenozi & Jäger, 2013) ||| Liechtenstein   (Arnold, 2001) ||| Montenegro   (no references) ||| North Macedonia   (Komnenov, 2017) ||| Romania   (no references) ||| Russia, Central   (Ponomarev, 2022) ||| Russia, Eastern   (no references) ||| Russia, Southern   (Otto, 2022; Ponomarev, 2022) ||| Serbia   (no references) ||| Slovakia   (no references) ||| Slovenia   (Kostanjšek & Kuntner, 2015) ||| Spain   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Switzerland   (no references) ||| Turkey (Asia)   (Danışman et al., 2024) ||| Turkey (Europe)   (Danışman et al., 2024) ||| Ukraine   (Polchaninova & Prokopenko, 2019) |||
References

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

Benhacene R, Adjami A, Hadjeb A, Kermiche K, Ouakid M L (2023) Bibliographic checklist of the Algerian spider fauna (Araneae). Zootaxa 5352: 301-357 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 (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 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, Van Keer J, Russell-Smith A, Kronestedt T, Alderweireldt M, Bosselaers J, De Koninck H (2013) Spiders of Crete (Araneae). A catalogue of all currently known species from the Greek island of Crete. Nieuwsbrief van de Belgische Arachnologische Vereniging 28 (Suppl. 1): 1-147 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 (2024) The checklist of the spiders of Turkey. Version 2024 [last updated 01 January 2024], online at http://www.spidersofturkey.info pdf

Deltshev C, Vrenozi B, Blagoev G, Lazarov S (2011b) Spiders of Albania – faunistic and zoogeographical review (Arachnida: Araneae). Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 63: 125-144 pdf

El-Hennawy H K (2017a) A list of Egyptian spiders (revised in 2017). Serket 15: 167-183 pdf

Grbac I, Katušić L, Lukić M (2019) Catalogue of spiders (Araneae) deposited in the Croatian Natural History Museum. Natura Croatica 28: 185-269 pdf

Heimer S, Nentwig W (1991) Spinnen Mitteleuropas. Paul Parey Berlin pdf

Kolosváry G (1935a) Neue Beiträge zur Biologie der Tierwelt der Ungarländischen Junipereten. Folia Zoologica et Hydrobiologica, Rigā 7: 203-216 pdf

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

Komnenov M (2017) New data on spider fauna (Araneae) of Shar Mountain, north-western Macedonia. Proceedings of the 5th Congress of the Ecologists of Macedonia, with international participation (Ohrid, 19th-22nd October 2016). Special issues of the Macedonian Ecological Society 13: 44-61 pdf

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

Loksa I (1972) Pokok II-Araneae II. Fauna Hungariae 109: 1-112 pdf

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

Pantini P, Isaia M (2019) Araneae.it: the online catalog of Italian spiders, with addenda on other arachnid orders occurring in Italy (Arachnida: Araneae, Opiliones, Palpigradi, Pseudoscorpionida, Scorpiones, Solifugae). Fragmenta Entomologica 51: 127-152 pdf

Polchaninova N, Prokopenko E (2019) An updated checklist of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Left-Bank Ukraine. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 57: 60-64 & App pdf

Ponomarev A V (2022) Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of the southeast of the Russian Plain: catalogue, the fauna specific features. SSC RAS Publishers, Rostov-on-Don, 640 pp. 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 (1991b) Pachygnatha terilis n.sp. aus den Südalpen, mit Bemerkungen zu einigen Araneidae der Alpenländer (Arachnida: Aranei, Tetragnathidae, Araneidae). Berichte des Naturwissenschaftlich-Medizinischen Vereins in Innsbruck 78: 47-57 pdf

Vrenozi B, Jäger P (2013) Spiders (Araneae) from Albania and Kosovo in the collection of Carl Friedrich Roewer. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 46: 17-26 pdf

Wiehle H (1931) Spinnentiere oder Arachnoidea, VI. 27: Familie Araneidae. Die Tierwelt Deutschlands 23: 47-136 pdf

WSC (2024) World Spider Catalog. Version 25.0. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (22.01.2024) doi: 10.24436/2 pdf

Updates
30-10-2023 Distribution insert Detail
30-10-2023 Distribution update Detail
26-05-2023 Distribution update Detail
19-06-2021 Distribution update Detail
25-01-2021 Gallery image insert
08-06-2020 Distribution update Detail
02-03-2015 Distribution update Detail
15-10-2013 Distribution update Detail