''Atypus affinis'', the purseweb spider, is a common

mygalomorph The Mygalomorphae, or mygalomorphs, are an infraorder of spiders, and comprise one of three major groups of living spiders with over 3000 species, found on all continents except Antarctica. Many members are known as trapdoor spiders due to the ...

spider from

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Distribution

It is found in Europe (Netherlands, Germany) and southern

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, but ranging as far north as southern

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and as far south as

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

. Its hidden lifestyle makes it a rarely seen species. It is the only British mygalomorph spider. The purse-web spider was previously known from Denmark, but as it had not been seen for 60 years despite persistent searching, it was considered extinct. In 1994, it was rediscovered in Jutland.

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 in Europe to Moldavia, and Iran and is the type species of the genus ''Atypus''. Description Males are about long without chelicerae, females up to . Males are of a dee ...

'', 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