Summary details for Hilaira nubigena Hull, 1911

Species Details

Species name: Hilaira nubigena Hull, 1911
Taxonomy: Animalia :: Araneae :: Linyphiidae
habitat: acid & sedge peats

Distribution

Apart from records from Kirkcudbrightshire, Perth, Angus, Inverness-shire, Argyll, Ross-shire and Sutherland, the species is confined to a small area of North-west and Mid-west Yorkshire, Durham, Northumberland, Cumberland and Westmorland. It is a boreal species in Europe.

Habitat and ecology

H. nubigena occurs in wet areas, usually in association with Sphagnum or Juncus, on moorland, mostly at altitudes between about 400 and 700 m. Adults are found in August and September, and probably over winter.

Status

The spider has been recorded from five sites since 1992 in the northern Pennines and Scotland, and is fairly numerous in some places, but it is rather local. Its area of occupancy has declined from 15 hectads before 1992 to five since that date. Trend analysis of the continuing decline in area of occupancy over the period 1976 to 2005 indicates a reduction in population size of 62% over a ten year period. An apparent major decline in the Pennines since 1980 may be due in part to under-recording.

Threats

Probably the only threat at some sites might be afforestation.

Management and conservation

Ensure wetlands are not drained for intensive forestry. Text based on Dawson, I.K., Harvey, P.R., Merrett, P. & Russell-Smith, A.R. (in prep.).

Stats

First recorded: 1900
Last recorded: 2019
Total records: 89
Total visits: 88

Conservation status

Hilaira nubigena

Source	Reporting category	Designation	Date designated	Comments
A Review of the scarce and threatened spiders (Araneae) of Great Britain: Species Status No. 22 (Sep 2017)	Rare and scarce species	Nationally Rare. Includes Red Listed taxa	01/09/2017
A Review of the scarce and threatened spiders (Araneae) of Great Britain: Species Status No. 22 (Sep 2017)	Red listing based on 2001 IUCN guidelines	Vulnerable	01/09/2017	This species of wet upland moors has shown a very substantial decline in AOO with only five locations since 1993. Some under -recording is likely, especially in the Pennines where it was rediscovered at at Buckden Pike in 2013 where it had last been recorded in 1948. Drainage, afforestation and fire are the most likely threats to this species, and while there is a possibility it may persist in more than 10 locations, VU is considered a sensible precautionary status. Threats: Probably the only threat at some sites might be afforestation.

Photos and media

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Spatial distribution - hectad map

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Thresholds:

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Rejected records are excluded from this map. Unverified records are included.

Temporal distribution - records by year

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