Summary details for Walckenaeria stylifrons (O.P.-Cambridge, 1875)

Species Details

Species name: Walckenaeria stylifrons (O.P.-Cambridge, 1875)
Synonyms: Walckenaeria niger (Wiehle, 1965), Walckenaera stylifrons (O.P.-Cambridge, 1875), Wideria stylifrons (O.P.-Cambridge, 1875)
Taxonomy: Animalia :: Araneae :: Linyphiidae
habitat: tall sward & scrub

Distribution

The species has been recorded in Britain only from Weeting Heath, West Norfolk. Its European distribution includes Corsica, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, though most records are from the French Mediterranean coast.

Habitat and ecology

The spider was originally found in tall dense Festuca turf on sandy soil, but the two recent specimens came from traps set in short or very short grassland, in an experimental plot where one strip had previously been forage harvested and the other rotavated. The species has also been found in very short grassland behind a dune system on the Belgian coast. Both sexes have been found in March and April.

Status

The species is only known from one site where a total of six specimens have been taken between 1963 and 1994. It appears to be a rare species throughout its European range.

Threats

Much of Breckland has been afforested with conifers or put into permanent agricultural production, and several remaining areas of heath are fast disappearing under self-sown pines.

Management and conservation

More research is needed on the spider's particular habitat preferences. However it would seem that management should prevent the loss of open grassland. Text based on Dawson, I.K., Harvey, P.R., Merrett, P. & Russell-Smith, A.R. (in prep.).

Stats

First recorded: 1900
Last recorded: 1994
Total records: 4
Total visits: 4

Conservation status

Walckenaeria stylifrons

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	42979
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	42979	This species is known from a single Breckland site where just six specimens were found between 1963 and 1994, when it was last recorded. Changes in habitat suitability owing to the the current decimation of the Breckland rabbit population by haemorrhagic disease pose a threat. Threats: Much of Breckland has been afforested with conifers or put into permanent agricultural production, and several remaining areas of heath are fast disappearing under self-sown pines. Changes in habitat suitability owing to the the current decimation of the Breckland rabbit population by haemorrhagic disease pose a threat.

Photos and media

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Spatial distribution - hectad map

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Thresholds:

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Temporal distribution - records by year

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