Summary details for Porrhomma campbelli O.P.-Cambridge, 1894

Distribution

P. campbelli has a widespread but very scattered distribution in Britain. A Palaearctic species fairly widespread in north-western and central Europe.

Habitat and ecology

This spider has been found beneath rocks and amongst dry reed-bed litter (Crocker & Daws 1996). P. campbelli has also been taken whilst ballooning off fence posts in upland moorland, and infrequently in pitfall traps on heathland and calcareous grassland. It is likely that the species typically inhabits subterranean mammal burrows as specimens have been found in mole nests (Bristowe 1958). Adult females have been taken between April and July.

Status

Rarely encountered, perhaps due to its habitat preference. If its habitat is subterranean, it may have been seriously under-recorded.

Threats

No threats currently known but this is largely due to our lack of knowledge of its exact micro-habitat requirements and ecology.

Management and conservation

There is a need to determine the exact habitat and micro-habitat requirements of this species but in the interim, uneccessary destruction of mammal burrows in areas where it has been recorded should be avoided. Text based on Dawson, I.K., Harvey, P.R., Merrett, P. & Russell-Smith, A.R. (in prep.).