Atypidae  Thorell, 1870 / Atypus  Latreille, 1804   3 species

Atypus muralis Bertkau, 1890

Description

Palp male: femur with longitudinal ridge in longish depression. Vulva with 2 pairs of receptacula seminis, inner and outer pair not in the same line. Prosoma red-brown to dark brown, dark brown in female. Sternum with dark median field. First pair of sigilla more than 1/2 diameter apart from margin of sternum. Legs red-brown to dark brown. Metatarsus IV male: dorsally with 4 or more spines. Opisthosoma velvety-black, grey-brown. Posterior spinnerets distinctly 4 segmented (in dorsal and ventral view).

Body length male: 9 mm
Body length female: 12 mm
Additional information

capture tube over ground 13 cm, retreat tube underground 35-80 cm, colonies of up to 100 specimens, on xerothermic dry slopes and steppe heathland

Distribution
  Presence
  No data
Global distribution (WSC 2026): Central Europe to Turkmenistan
Phenology
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
 male  female
Figures
Distribution List
Austria   (Thaler & Knoflach, 2002b) ||| Azerbaijan   (Otto, 2022) ||| Bulgaria   (Blagoev et al., 2018) ||| Czechia   (Růžička & Řezáč, 2022a) ||| Georgia   (Otto, 2022) ||| Germany   (Blick et al., 2016) ||| Greece   (Van Keer et al., 2010) ||| Hungary   (Schwendinger, 1990; Řezáč et al., 2007) ||| Italy   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| Moldova   (Vasiliev & Mikhailov, 2023) ||| North Macedonia   (Komnenov, 2014) ||| Poland   (Rozwałka & Stanska, 2008) ||| Romania   (Weiss & Petrișor, 1999) ||| Russia, Central   (Ponomarev, 2022) ||| Russia, Eastern   (Esyunin & Efimik, 1996a) ||| Russia, Southern   (Otto, 2022; Ponomarev, 2022) ||| Serbia   (Grbić et al., 2019) ||| Slovakia   (Gajdoš et al., 1999) ||| Slovenia   (Kostanjšek & Kuntner, 2015) ||| Switzerland   (Maurer & Hänggi, 1990) ||| Turkey (Asia)   (Özkütük et al., 2015c) ||| Turkey (Europe)   (Özkütük et al., 2015c) ||| Ukraine   (Polchaninova & Prokopenko, 2019) |||
References

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

Esyunin S L, Efimik V E (1996a) Catalogue of the spiders (Arachnida, Aranei) of the Urals. KMK Scientific Press, Moscow, 228 pp. pdf

Gajdoš P, Svatoň J, Sloboda J (1999) Katalóg pavúkov Slovenska. Catalogue of Slovakian spiders. Ústav kr. ekol. SAV, Bratislava, 337 pp.

Grbić G, Hänggi A, Gajić I, Vaselek S, Ivković S (2019) Spiders (Araneae) of the Deliblato Sands (Serbia). Acta Entomologica Serbica 24: 79-93 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

Komnenov M (2014) Spider fauna of the Osogovo Mt. Range, Northeastern Macedonia. Fauna Balkana 2: 1-267 pdf

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

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 pdf

Loksa I (1969) Pokok I-Araneae I. Fauna Hungariae 97: 1-133 pdf

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

Miller F (1947) Pavoucí zvírena hadcových stepí u Mohelna. Archiv Svazu na Výzkum a Ochranu Přírody i Krajiny v Zemi Moravskoslezské 7: 1-107 pdf

Naumova M V, Blagoev G, Dimitrov D, Lazarov S, Deltshev C (2017) New data on the spider fauna (Arachnida: Araneae) of Bulgaria. Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 69: 477-481 pdf

Nuruyeva T V, Zamani A, Snegovaya N Y (2024b) A survey of mygalomorph spiders (Araneae: Atypidae, Nemesiidae) of Azerbaijan, including the description of two new species. Zoology in the Middle East 70: 353-360 pdf

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

Özkütük R S, Kunt K B, Gündüz G, Elverici M (2015c) A new record for Turkish mygalomorph spiders: Atypus muralis Bertkau, 1890 (Araneae, Mygalomorphae, Atypidae). Biological Diversity and Conservation 8: 138-142 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

Řezáč M, Řezáčová V, Pekár S (2007) The distribution of purse-web Atypus spiders (Araneae: Mygalomorphae) in central Europe is constrained by microclimatic continentality and soil compactness. Journal of Biogeography 34: 1016-1027 pdf

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 pdf

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 pdf

Schwendinger P J (1990) A synopsis of the genus Atypus (Araneae, Atypidae). Zoologica Scripta 19: 353-366 pdf

Thaler K, Knoflach B (2002b) Zur Faunistik der Spinnen (Araneae) von Österreich: Atypidae, Haplogynae, Eresidae, Zodariidae, Mimetidae. Linzer Biologische Beiträge 34: 413-444 pdf

Van Keer J, Van Keer K, De Koninck H, Ramel G (2010) The arachnofauna (Araneae) of wetland Kerkini (Macedonia-Northern Central Greece). Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 62: 141-160 pdf

Vasiliev A I, Mikhailov K G (2023) Annotated checklist of spiders (Araneae) of the Republic of Moldova. Invertebrate Zoology 20: 307-342 pdf

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 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
31-05-2025 Distribution update Detail
30-11-2024 Image insert
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