Summary details for Agroeca dentigera Kulczynski, 1913

Distribution

First discovered in 1989 at Ynyslas Dunes, part of the Dyfi National Nature Reserve in Ceredigion, Wales, when a single female was taken in a pitfall trap and identified initially as A. lusatica, under which species it was mapped in the Provisional Atlas. When a male was caught in October 2002 along with four more females, less than 200 m from the original site, its true identity was established. The species is widespread in central and eastern Europe, but is rare with very few records.

Habitat and ecology

Coastal sand dunes in UK. In Europe it has been found in a variety of damp habitats. The five spiders in 2002 were found in a sheltered, south-facing dune hollow on the side of an east-west fixed dune at a right-angle to the coast. Adult in October. On the Continent adult in autumn and winter months like most other Agroeca species.

Status

The spider is known from a single site where it appears to occur in very low numbers. Just five individuals were found in 75 man-hours of searching in 2002, only in an area close to the original location where a single individual had been found in 1989.

Threats

The small area from which it has been recorded suggests it has very specific habitat requirements, which are likely to be vulnerable to change. Sea level rise may be a problem in the future.

Management and conservation

Maintain all stages of succession in its known sand-dune location. More research is needed into its autecology. Text based on Dawson, I.K., Harvey, P.R., Merrett, P. & Russell-Smith, A.R. (in prep.).