Subspecies
No subspecies are recognized.
Original description
Synonyms
Oletera
atypus Walckenaer, 1805 (nomen oblitum?)
Oletera atypa
Walckenaer, 1805
Atypus affinis
Eichwald, 1830
Atypus affinis affinis Eichwald,
1830
Atypus anachoreta
Ausserer, 1871
Atypus blackwalli Simon, 1873
Atypus bleodonticus Simon, 1873
Atypus coriaceus Simon, 1881
Atypus cedrorum Simon, 1889
Atypus affinis major Simon, 1909
Identification
Body length (without cheliceres): 10 - 15 mm
(female), 7 - 9 mm (male). The female is brown
with a purple hue, the male is darker and the hue
is more bluish. This species tends to be lighter
than the other German species, often the brown of
the body and the legs is yellowish.
Distribution
Recorded from Central and Eastern Europe, the UK,
and from North Africa. In Germany a lowland
species that rarely lives above 500 m. Mainly in
central Germany and less frequent in the north and
the south. It is the only Atypus species that is
regularly recorded in the North German Plain. More
frequent than the other two species, but listed on
the Red List of endangered species.
Biology
Similar in
biology to the other Atypus species (see there)
and sometimes mixed colonies of two or all three
different species can be found. In contrast to
the other two species, adult males of Atypus
affinis leave their tubes in the fall season and
thus mating occurs later in the year than in the
other two German species. In addition, the
species shows a preference for coniferous
forests (especially pine).
The females of this species live for several
years (up to 8 years).
This page has been updated on December17, 2012
This site is online since May 31, 2005
Copyright © by Nikola-Michael Prpic. All
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