First records of Saitis tauricus (Araneae: Salticidae) from Italy in South Tyrol

Michael Steinwandter,Alexander Rief,Simone Ballini

doi:10.30963/aramit5701

Abstract

From 2016 to 2018, four males of Saitis tauricus Kulczynski, 1905 were recorded in the northernmost province of Italy, Bozen – South Tyrol. These findings were made by chance in urban areas of the capital city of Bozen/Bolzano and the city of Meran/Merano, and represent the first findings of this species for South Tyrol and Italy. No females were recorded so far. Photos of the habitus and pedipalps are given. We assume that the specimens could have been imported several times from Balkan countries such as Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia and Turkey, or from Hungary. They may have formed a short-time population of S. tauricus for South Tyrol, as the findings of the males were made in three consecutive years. These findings are very similar to those of S. barbipes in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. More investigations are needed to understand how this species arrived in the area of South Tyrol and if it has established successfully.

Highlights

BioOne Complete is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses
For Italy, only S. barbipes (Simon, 1868) is known so far; S. imitatus was omitted in Pantini & Isaia (2018) because, besides Simon (1871), no recent record is known and its unconfirmed listing for Italy might be due to mistakes in localisation and from regions of Dalmatia (Croatia) that were formerly part of Italy (Dobroruka 2004)
We present the first findings of another species of the genus Saitis, S. tauricus Kulczyński, 1905, for South Tyrol and for Italy

Summary

Introduction

BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses. Von 2016 bis 2018 wurden vier Männchen von Saitis tauricus Kulczyński, 1905 in der nördlichsten Provinz Italiens, Bozen – Südtirol, nachgewiesen. In the last two decades, since the last published checklist (Noflatscher 1996), over 200 new species records of Araneae for South Tyrol were made (e.g. Ballini & Steinberger 2009, Stauder et al 2010, Ballini et al 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, Ballini unpubl.). This includes mostly species already known from neighbouring countries such as Austria and Switzerland [e.g., Linyphiidae: Erigone dentigera O. 1873)], invasive Mediterranean species coming from the South [e.g., Zoropsidae: Zoropsis spinimana (Dufour, 1820)] or imported species [e.g., Salticidae: Hasarius adansoni (Audouin, 1826), Dictynidae: Cicurina japonica (Simon, 1886)]

Methods

Results

Conclusion