Brown little spiders => Titanoeca sp.

[Raffaele Falato]

Gorgoglione, Province of Matera, Basilicata, Southern Italy.

Date of discovery: November 7, morning.
Habitat: 800 m - in the countryside, under a stone in a meadow with low vegetation and shrubs, nearby there is an oak forest.
Dimensions: the largest 3-4 mm.

Ciao,
I found these two spiders in their shelter (I have the photo, if needed) under a large isolated stone in a small meadow.
I have no idea, I can only imagine that the largest spider is a male and the other a female / young.
Raf


sp2.jpg (18.71 KB . 708x397 - angeschaut 76 Mal)

sp1.jpg (28.62 KB . 556x565 - angeschaut 76 Mal)

[Simeon Indzhov]

Titanoeca juveniles
Simeon

[Raffaele Falato]

Thanks Simeon, I had never met these spiders.
Can you tell me when I can find adult specimens?
Thanks again.
Raf

[Simeon Indzhov]

Uh, maybe in spring? Around May? My experience with Titanoeca is only sporadic.

[Raffaele Falato]

Rearranging the photos, I found this one that appears to show an apophysis or something similar on the left palp.
Is it therefore also present on juveniles (the photo concerns the largest spider)?


sp3.jpg (21.14 KB . 471x369 - angeschaut 54 Mal)

[Simeon Indzhov]

No, this is not an apophysis but a white object on the palpal tibia creating the illusion of an incision. The spider is a sub-subadult male by the way. This said, in Cybaeus for example, the patellar apophysis starts developing as a small pointed protrusion even in subadults.

[Raffaele Falato]

Thank you very much, Simeon.

Greetings.
Raf

[Jonathan Neumann]

Mai/June is good for almost all subadult spiders in autumn/winter. In Italy probably even already in April.

LG,
Jonathan

[Raffaele Falato]

Thanks Jonathan.

Greetings.
Raf