44:
245:, though they can sometimes be seen outside of caves and mines as they will emerge around dusk to hunt, often using a single silk lasso line and swinging down upon their prey. They are often found in areas that are frequented by bats. The spiders are most often observed in railway tunnels and mines since these are more likely to be visited by humans. The young spiders are, after several
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to humans and although (in common with nearly all spiders) they have venom, its effect on large mammals is negligible. They are unlikely to bite if carefully handled but if sufficiently provoked they are capable of inflicting an unpleasant "nip". They are non-aggressive and generally slow moving and
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They are shiny satin black to reddish brown in colour, often having a different-coloured rear body which varies from black, brown or even olive green and are one of the largest spiders found in the United
Kingdom, adults reaching roughly 5 cm legspan and 15 mm body length. However, the
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The cocoon (2–3 cm in radius) contains an average of 200/300 eggs and is laid near the cave entrance at the end of the summer. After hatching, the spiderlings remain in the cocoon until the first molt, feeding on the yolk. They leave the cocoon in spring, move towards the cave entrance and
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The ecology of the two species is very similar. On the other hand, the two species seems to exhibit different tolerance to the microclimatic variations within the cave, which emerged as the main factors determining the differentiation of their niche.
407:
reported that it "may be a new species or a type of spider previously thought to have been extinct for thousands of years." The initial incident was widely reported but when the species was properly identified the matter received little publicity.
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thread approximately 20 mm long. Egg sacs are usually laid in the vicinity of the cave entrance, where the air flow velocity ranges between 0.3 and 0.6 m/s.
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403:. These were incorrectly described as swarms of aggressive spiders, up to 9 cm in size, which a leading entomologist believed were venomous. The
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Chiavazzo, Eliodoro; Isaia, Marco; Mammola, Stefano; Lepore, Emiliano; Ventola, Luigi; Asinari, Pietro; Pugno, Nicola Maria (2015-01-05).
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are tear-shaped white pendants (sometimes with a slightly yellow centre) usually hanging from the roof of the habitat by a
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1038:
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563:"Cave spiders choose optimal environmental factors with respect to the generated entropy when laying their cocoon"
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507:"Niche differentiation in Meta Bourneti and M. menardi (Araneae, Tetragnathidae) with notes on the life history"
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and from Europe to Korea; there are also transplanted populations as far apart as Japan and
Madagascar.
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which ensures the spread of the species to new areas (see Life cycle for further details).
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Les Araignées — Généralités — Araignées de France et des pays limitrophes
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481:. Paris, France: Société nouvelle des éditions Boubée. p. 158.
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302:. They are neither endangered nor protected in the UK.
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237:and live in places free from light, frequently in
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357:After mating, females produce a drop-shaped
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375:disperse via ballooning outside the cave.
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619:"Venomous spiders nest near Queen's home"
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294:are larger. It is widespread and locally
457:UK Joint Nature Conservation Committee,
505:Mammola, Stefano; Isaia, Marco (2014).
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298:, although rarely noticed due to its
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871:8420cfe4-743a-4cdd-9419-50f5b5f05f79
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448:, 2005, Vol 13; Part 6 Pages 213-216
391:engineers working in the grounds of
511:International Journal of Speleology
14:
249:(and in contrast to the adults),
1011:urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:013879
459:http://www.jncc.gov.uk/page-1815
424:Locket, Millidge & Merrett,
340:The European cave spider is not
42:
395:discovered a colony living in
1:
646:"The diet of the cave spider
325:Cave spiders feed on smaller
251:strongly attracted to light
202:). It is also known as the
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1059:Spiders described in 1804
524:10.5038/1827-806x.43.3.11
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39:Scientific classification
37:
28:
23:
644:Smithers, Peter (2005).
621:. BBC News. 19 June 2001
477:HUBERT, Michel (1979).
426:British Spiders vol III
657:Journal of Arachnology
549:Journal of Arachnology
349:) as "gentle giants".
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306:
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233:The adult spiders are
204:orbweaving cave spider
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24:European cave spider
866:Fauna Europaea (new)
218:They have a natural
192:European cave spider
579:2015NatSR...5E7611C
567:Scientific Reports
464:2009-01-22 at the
329:, most frequently
310:closely resembles
284:giant house spider
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196:orb-weaving spider
194:, is a long-jawed
1044:Spiders of Africa
1039:Spiders of Europe
1021:
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983:Open Tree of Life
721:Taxon identifiers
702:at Nick's Spiders
669:10.1636/ct-05-2.1
587:10.1038/srep07611
488:978-2-85004-020-7
434:978-0-903874-02-1
345:are regarded (by
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16:Species of spider
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314:Meta bourneti
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1054:Cave spiders
773:Meta_menardi
759:Meta menardi
729:Meta menardi
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708:Meta menardi
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699:Meta menardi
698:
697:Pictures of
680:. Retrieved
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648:Meta Menardi
647:
623:. Retrieved
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444:Smithers P,
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307:Meta menardi
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269:Meta menardi
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255:evolutionary
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228:North Africa
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187:Meta menardi
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168:Meta menardi
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112:Infraorder:
18:
931:NatureServe
892:iNaturalist
753:Wikispecies
534:2318/148030
292:raft spider
235:photophobic
224:Scandinavia
86:Chelicerata
82:Subphylum:
1028:Categories
706:Photos of
682:2010-11-18
625:30 October
412:References
361:(cocoon).
353:Life cycle
277:Morphology
258:adaptation
76:Arthropoda
780:Araneae:
342:dangerous
331:myriapods
176:Latreille
144:Species:
96:Arachnida
62:Kingdom:
56:Eukaryota
936:2.107124
910:10745756
790:BioLib:
744:Q1470676
738:Wikidata
677:73719797
605:25556697
573:: 7611.
462:Archived
428:, 1974,
401:manholes
397:conduits
365:Egg sacs
296:abundant
290:and the
206:and the
198:(family
122:Family:
72:Phylum:
66:Animalia
52:Domain:
998:2049295
884:2151378
832:1193344
596:5154591
575:Bibcode
359:egg sac
247:instars
243:tunnels
214:Habitat
178:, 1804)
132:Genus:
106:Araneae
102:Order:
92:Class:
995:uBio:
988:770847
962:407817
923:861115
897:224958
858:353070
845:227736
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300:habits
190:, the
975:23994
905:IRMNG
840:EUNIS
819:428FV
806:83235
673:S2CID
653:(PDF)
335:slugs
239:caves
220:range
957:NCBI
918:ITIS
879:GBIF
801:BOLD
793:1540
627:2018
601:PMID
483:ISBN
430:ISBN
399:and
369:silk
333:and
241:and
137:Meta
1006:WSC
944:NBN
827:EoL
814:CoL
783:755
768:ADW
665:doi
591:PMC
583:doi
529:hdl
519:doi
405:BBC
226:to
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497:^
383:A
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271:♀
174:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
