Summary for Nigma walckenaeri (Araneae)

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National Distribution

 
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Nigma walckenaeri Copyright: Peter Harvey
Identification difficulty rating: 3
Name: Nigma walckenaeri
Authority: (Roewer, 1951)
Order: Arachnida: Araneae
Family: Dictynidae
IUCN status: LC

Records: 1049
First Record: 1900
Latest Record: 2023

1992-on hectads: 206
Pre-1992 hectads: 13
Total hectads: 207

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About this species

Recorded altitude range
0m to 170m

Species text

Distribution
The species was first recorded in Britain at Box Hill and Kew (Surrey) as long ago as about 1880 and 1898 (Verdcourt 1997). It is found mainly in the Thames valley in Essex, east Berkshire, Middlesex, Surrey (and London), and the Severn valley in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The spider is frequent locally in southern parts of Europe (Roberts 1995), but is absent from Scandinavia.

Habitat and ecology
The species is found on bushes in gardens and parks often in suburban areas, but also on scrub in more natural habitats. The spider spins a small web and retreat on the upper surface of leaves of bushes. The leaves of lilac, Forsythia, holly and ivy are especially favoured but any leaves are used with a similar size and curved surface across which the web can be made. Both sexes have been found in Malaise trap samples run in Buckingham Palace Gardens between September and November and females are sometimes found indoors in late autumn. Adults are generally found in late summer and autumn with females persisting into the winter, although both sexes have been recorded in January.

Status
The spider can be common in gardens in London and south Essex and is probably widespread and frequent in this area. It has been regularly seen in the Severn valley since its discovery there in 1993. It was perhaps originally imported into Britain (Merrett 1990), but it should be noted that there are other species with a distribution based in the Thames and Severn Valleys, where climatic similarities include average daily maximum and minimum temperatures in January and July (figures in The Climate of England, some facts and figures, The Met Office 1996).

Threats
The species is unlikely to be threatened since it can flourish on shrubs in gardens, parks and other amenity landscapes.

Management and conservation
The use of suitable shrubs in amenity plantings should be encouraged. In locations where the spider occurs trimming of hedges and shrubs should be avoided in summer and autumn (when the spider constructs its webs on suitable leaves and lays its egg sacs). A proportion of shrubs should be left untrimmed.

Text based on Dawson, I.K., Harvey, P.R., Merrett, P. & Russell-Smith, A.R. (in prep.).  References

Adult Season

Adult Season Data (based on 464 records with adult season information)


Habitats

background methodology

Broad Habitat Data (based on 400 records with habitat information)

Broad subhabitat Data (based on 122 records with subhabitat information)

Structural Habitat Data (based on 361 records with structural habitat information)

Habitat Detail and Method (based on 424 records with habitat detail and method information)

Recorded management for locations with Nigma walckenaeri

Recorded substrate and hydrology for locations with Nigma walckenaeri

Images

Female Nigma walckenaeri
Female Nigma walckenaeri
Nigma walckenaeri and Prey on Ivy
Nigma walckenaeri and Prey on Ivy
Nigma walckenaeri Blue Waters NR
Nigma walckenaeri Blue Waters NR
Nigma walckenaeri (Essex)
Nigma walckenaeri (Essex)
Green one
Green one
Nigma walckenaeri (Suffolk)
Nigma walckenaeri (Suffolk)
Nigma walckenaeri 6.4.20
Nigma walckenaeri 6.4.20
Nigma walckenaeri copulation 2
Nigma walckenaeri copulation 2
Nigma walckenaeri copulation
Nigma walckenaeri copulation
Nigma walckenaeri male A
Nigma walckenaeri male A
Probable N. walckenaeri S. Cambridgeshire garden on ivy
Probable N. walckenaeri S. Cambridgeshire garden on ivy
Mealtime!
Mealtime!
Possible Nigma walckenaeri
Possible Nigma walckenaeri
Nigma walckenaeri with prey
Nigma walckenaeri with prey
Nigma Walckenaeri Macro
Nigma Walckenaeri Macro
Nigma walckenaeri in Cambridge
Nigma walckenaeri in Cambridge
Nigma walckenaeri Adult male
Nigma walckenaeri Adult male
Nigma walckenaeri on Parthenocissus tricuspidata
Nigma walckenaeri on Parthenocissus tricuspidata
N.walckenaeri 2
N.walckenaeri 2
Female Nigma walckenaeri A
Female Nigma walckenaeri A
N.walckenaeri mature male
N.walckenaeri mature male
N.walckenaeri immature male
N.walckenaeri immature male
N.walckenaeri 1
N.walckenaeri 1
Green spider 03.11.15
Green spider 03.11.15
Nigma walckenaeri with wasp (Worcester)
Nigma walckenaeri with wasp (Worcester)
Nigma walckenaeri - female (Worcester)
Nigma walckenaeri - female (Worcester)
Nigma walckenaeri (Hackney)
Nigma walckenaeri (Hackney)
Nigma walckenaeri Male
Nigma walckenaeri Male
Nigma walckenaeri Female
Nigma walckenaeri Female
Nigma walckenaeri (Female) on Bay Leaf
Nigma walckenaeri (Female) on Bay Leaf
Nigma walckenaeri (Male)
Nigma walckenaeri (Male)
Nigma walckenaeri on rose leaf
Nigma walckenaeri on rose leaf
Nigma walckenaeri in web
Nigma walckenaeri in web
Nigma walckenaeri emerging from web
Nigma walckenaeri emerging from web
Nigma walckenaeri web
Nigma walckenaeri web
Nigma walckenaeri with web
Nigma walckenaeri with web
Nigma walckenaeri
Nigma walckenaeri
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