''Atypus affinis'', the purseweb spider, is a mygalomorph spider from

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

Distribution

''A. affinis'' is found throughout much of the European mainland, in Great Britain and in North Africa, where this

fossorial A fossorial animal () is one that is adapted to digging and which lives primarily (but not solely) underground. Examples of fossorial vertebrates are Mole (animal), moles, badgers, naked mole-rats, meerkats, armadillos, wombats, and mole salamand ...

spider typically inhabit dry

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

, open

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

forest, meadows, grassland and the base of rocky outcrops. It is the only mygalomorph spider in the Nordics and the United Kingdom, but this species, which prefers relatively warm temperatures, is uncommon and localised in both those regions at the northern edge of its range. In the Nordics, it is only found on south-facing slopes in the southern part, where it is highly local but fairly widespread in Denmark and highly local in southern Sweden (

Blekinge Blekinge () is one of the traditional Swedish provinces (), situated in the southern coast of the geographic region of Götaland, in southern Sweden. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea. It is the country's second-smallest provin ...

and

Scania Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

). In the United Kingdom, where the species is local and has declined, most records are from southern

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, but it also ranges into

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and north to far southwestern

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It was formerly listed for

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, which was based on the find of a single tubular webbing of the species in 1896, but today this is considered most likely to be from a plant nursery import and the species is no longer recognised as being found on the island. Because of its hidden lifestyle, it is easily overlooked, although adult males can be seen wandering for a short period when they search for females and may be caught in pitfall traps. ''A. affinis'' tend to form colonies where the spiders can occur at high densities. Because of its low dispersal ability, even colonies that are just a few kilometers apart can often be quite isolated from each other.

Description

These spiders are black or brownish and not particularly large; the males are about , while the females are larger at . They look much like ''

Atypus piceus ''Atypus piceus'' is a mygalomorph spider of the family Atypidae. It occurs from France to Russia and in Iran, and is the type species of the genus ''Atypus''. Description Males are about long without chelicerae, females up to . Males are of a ...

'', but spiderlings are often very lightly colored, and the three-part posterior spinnerets do not have a light blot. Like other mygalomorph spiders, it has fangs that point straight down rather than crossing. This spider spins an unusual web. It creates a tube of silk that is hidden partially underground, with the portion above ground being covered in leaves and other debris. The spider waits for an insect to land or crawl onto the tube, then bites through the silk to pull the insect inside. These spiders usually do not leave their webs for any reason other than mating. These spiders become sexually mature at about 4 years. Autumn is the mating season, when the male spiders seek out a female spider and enter her burrow, where they live together until the male dies soon after mating. The female lays her egg sac inside the tube and the spiderlings hatch out the following summer, remaining with their mother for nearly another year after that.

References

External links

Details on Atypus affinis
{{Taxonbar, from=Q136961 Atypidae Spiders of Europe Spiders of Africa Spiders described in 1830 Taxa named by Karl Eichwald