Summary for Eratigena saeva (Araneae)

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National Distribution

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Identification difficulty rating: 4

Name: Eratigena saeva

Authority: Blackwall, 1844

Order: Arachnida: Araneae

Family: Agelenidae

IUCN status: LC

Records: 1406

First Record: 1880

Latest Record: 2023

1992-on hectads: 386

Pre-1992 hectads: 113

Total hectads: 441

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About this species

Recorded altitude range
0m to 320m

Species text

Nomenclature
Bolzern et al. (2013) proposed that Tegenaria atrica, T. saeva and T. gigantea (= T. duellica) should be placed (together with T. agrestis and T. picta amongst British spiders) in a new genus, Eratigena. They further proposed that E. atrica, E. saeva and E. duellica represented just one species, E. atrica. While the transfer to a new genus is justified, the collapse of the three species into one is definitely not (see Oxford & Bolzern 2018 for details).

Distribution
T. saeva is widespread in the west country, Wales and northern England, but more sporadic in Scotland. In mainland Europe its distribution is approximately the same as for E. duellica (https://araneae.nmbe.ch/data/1098). In southern and central England and Wales, the distribution of this species is almost complementary to that of E. duellica with only a relatively narrow band of overlap, where rare hybridisation occurs (see E. duellica)(Croucher et al. 2007; Oxford & Croucher 2014). Records outside the expected range can be genuine but telling the species apart can be tricky, especially in the overlap zone, and hybrids might be misidentified (Oxford 2008).

Habitat and ecology
The habitat and ecology of this species seems to be identical to that of E. duellica (q.v.)

Status
Very common where it occurs, but perhaps less so in Scotland.

Author of profile: Geoff Oxford.

References
Bolzern, A., Burckhardt, D. & Hänggi, A. 2013. Phylogeny and taxonomy of European funnel-web spiders of the Tegenaria-Malthonica complex (Araneae: Agelenidae) based upon morphological and molecular data. Zool. J. Linn. Soc. 168: 723-848.
Croucher, P. J. P. et al. (2007) Contrasting patterns of hybridisation in large house spiders (Tegenaria atrica group, Agalenidae). Evolution 61: 1622-1640.
Oxford, G. S. (2023) The identification of members of the Eratigena atrica group of Large House spiders - E. atrica, E. duellica and E. saeva (Agelenidae). SRS News 105: 1-4, In Newsl. Br. arachnol. Soc. 156.
Oxford, G. S. & Bolzern, A. 2018 Molecules v. morphology - is Eratigena atrica (Araneae: Agelenidae) one species or three? Arachnology 17: 337-357.
Oxford, G. S. & Croucher, P. J. P. 2014. Many a slip: dissecting the causes of reproductive isolation in two species of Tegenaria (Agelenidae). Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 113: 355-367.
References

Account last edited by Geoff Oxford at 15:37 on Tue 9th Jan 2024.