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1 December 2011 Vertical distribution of spiders in soil
Vratislav Laška, Oldřich Kopecký, Vlastimil Růžička, Jan Mikula, Adam Véle, Bořivoj Šarapatka, Ivan H. Tuf
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Abstract

Research studies of the shallow subterranean habitats as environments for arthropods have been sparse up to this point. Using subterranean traps, we studied the distribution of spiders in soil profile over a depth span of 5–95 cm at six sites. Although almost 40% of individual specimens (1088 in total) were obtained from the epigeon (5 cm depth), spiders colonized all parts of the soil profiles examined. Beside ground-dwelling species with significant preferences for the upper layers, some species (Porrhomma microphthalmum (O. Pickard-Cambridge 1871), Centromerus cavernarum (L. Koch 1872), Cicurina cicur (Fabricius 1793), Dysdera lantosquensis Simon 1882, and Nesticus cellulanus (Clerck 1757)) commonly inhabited the whole range of the profiles studied, without any depth preference. In contrast, depigmented and microphthalmous Porrhomma microps (Roewer 1931) and Maro sp. exclusively inhabited deep soil layers adjoining void systems in bedrock.

Vratislav Laška, Oldřich Kopecký, Vlastimil Růžička, Jan Mikula, Adam Véle, Bořivoj Šarapatka, and Ivan H. Tuf "Vertical distribution of spiders in soil," The Journal of Arachnology 39(3), 393-398, (1 December 2011). https://doi.org/10.1636/P09-75.1
Received: 15 August 2009; Published: 1 December 2011
KEYWORDS
Araneae
Mesovoid shallow substratum
subterranean environment
superficial underground compartment
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