Summary details for Platybunus pinetorum (C.L.Koch, 1839)

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)