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Found at home in Milan (Italy) - June, 3 2017

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Other picture

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Last picture

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Hello,

here in central Europe I would suspect Lepthyphantes leprosus, but I am afraid, in the south there are many more species...

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Thanks, Jürgen.
In Fauna Europaea I find 63 (!) species for the genus Lepthyphantes, and it is clear it is impossible to determinate the species from these bad photos.
But, in your opinion, Lepthyphantes sp. is correct , or the genus too is not sure?
Thank you again
Vladimiro

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Hello Vladimiro,


the large genus Lepthyphantes has been divided into many new genera. I don't know how Fauna Europea reflects that already (by the way: I only find only 25 Lepthyphantes species in FE for the whole of Europe). According to the german SpiderWiki only 7 species occur in Italy (mainland).
Here in Germany there are only 4 species, and only 2 (L. leprosus and minor) live regularly in buildings. The other 2 additionally are very small animals (1,8-2 mm).

The additional species in Italy are L. agnellus (1.8-2.0 mm), L. garganicus (2.2 mm) - I think, these are too small for your animal - and L. messapicus (5 mm). But I don't know anything about this last species (occurance/habitats, colouration).


It looks a lot like Leptyphanthes. Most other "-phantes" are smaller and do not occur in houses. And the pale colouration matches L. leprosus very well. But I am no expert at all... Perhaps you can put the photos to http://forum.eu-a...tion=forum. It is a german forum, but questions in English are also welcome.

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Hi, Jürgen,
thanks for your very interesting explanations.
I entered that forum, but it’s too difficult to use if one doesn’t know German.
Und, leider, Ich weiß nicht Deutsch.
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In Faunaeur: 25 species in the first page, 25 in the second, 13 in the third.
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Best regards
Vladimiro

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Why?

In the second picture we see the spider is 2 mm. long, without legs.
Best regards
Vladimiro

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Hello,


oh, I counted 3 mm. Then it becomes difficult...

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Then. it's better Leptyphanthes sp.
or, perhaps, Lepthyphantes cfr. leprosus.

Do you agree?

Thanks a lot
Vladimiro

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I'm afraid, if it's only 2 mm, then there are more genera possible than Lepthyphantes, and it will be virtually unidentifiable from these photos... :|

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Just as I feared
Thanks a lot anyway

Best regards
Vladimiro

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more likely a Tenuiphantes sp.
outdated material excludes buildings but I find Tenuiphantes on my balcony and windows.

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Very well!:)

Thank you very much, Johnes.

Vladimiro

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Hope you have a pleasant day :-D

note: examination of genitalia is the only method useful for an accurate identification of a species. However, Tenuiphantes males have a very small and complex pedipalp. accurate id of a Tenuiphantes could be extremely difficult for a beginner. I've added a photo of T. flavipes pedipalp at 4x microscopic zoom for illustration. Even a 4x zoom has trouble focusing on a Tenuiphantes pedipalp.

Happy spider hunting...

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Thanks!
A pleasant evening to you too.