Summary for Platybunus pinetorum (Opiliones)

previous species | next species

National Distribution

 
Logged-on? click on dot to query records. Please note our
Terms of Use. Double-click on map to go to region

View time series maps for Platybunus pinetorum
Platybunus pinetorum Female Copyright: Paul Richards
Identification difficulty rating: 4
Name: Platybunus pinetorum
Authority: C. L. Koch 1839
Order: Arachnida: Opiliones
Family: Phalangiidae

Records: 457
First Record: 2010
Latest Record: 2022

1992-on hectads: 58
Pre-1992 hectads: 0
Total hectads: 66

Explore Regional Distribution

Please log on and add a note on this species

Missing records?


 
 
Please report any problems with this record:
VC error
GR error
Taxon ID suspect
Structural habitat suspect
Other problems, please explain here:


 

About this species

Recorded altitude range
15m to 267m

Species text

Distribution
Platybunus pinetorum is a recent introduction, first recorded in Britain in 2010 in Sheffield. It was later recognised (from misidentified museum specimens) that it had been present in the Glasgow area since at least 2008. It was subsequently recorded from Yorkshire, Northampton, Edinburgh, south-west Scotland and getting as far north as Aberdeenshire by 2014. This species was recently recorded in south Wales in March 2022. It seems likely that this species had been present for a number of years before being noticed.

This species occurs widely across Europe including France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Romania and northern Italy.

Habitat and ecology
Platybunus pinetorum is a forest species which has been found in Britain in a range of woodland and grassland habitats and also in gardens and quarries and on the walls of buildings. Adults have been observed on tree trunks. It appears to be slightly less synanthropic than the other recent harvestman introductions.

The adults have been found from March to May, with the juveniles presumably hatching during the summer and overwintering, as in P. triangularis. The limited information on food includes a homopteran bug!

There is plenty opportunity to study the spread and ecology of this large harvestman.

Status
Recent introduction, spreading rapidly.

Text based on: Wijnhoven, H. 2009. De Nederlandse hooiwagens (Opiliones) Naturalis Biodiversity Centre - Entomologische Tabellen, The Netherlands. (translation available here: http://srs.britishspiders.org.uk/portal/p/Harvestman+Resources)

 References

 Account last edited by Meg Skinner at 17:18 on Wed 9th Mar 2022.

Adult Season

Adult Season Data (based on 110 records with adult season information)


Habitats

background methodology

Broad Habitat Data (based on 12 records with habitat information)

Broad subhabitat Data (based on 2 records with subhabitat information)

Structural Habitat Data (based on 15 records with structural habitat information)

Habitat Detail and Method (based on 18 records with habitat detail and method information)

Recorded management for locations with Platybunus pinetorum

Recorded substrate and hydrology for locations with Platybunus pinetorum

Images

Platybunus pinetorum female Ayrshire
Platybunus pinetorum female Ayrshire
Platybunus pinetorum male.
Platybunus pinetorum male.
P.pinetorum
P.pinetorum
Platybunus pinetorum portrait
Platybunus pinetorum portrait
Platybunus pinetorum
Platybunus pinetorum
Platybunus pinetorum in a Horwich garden
Platybunus pinetorum in a Horwich garden
Platybunus pinetorum Female
Platybunus pinetorum Female
please log on and upload a new image for this species

See also A-Z Species Index - A-Z Picture Index - previous species | next species