Gnaphosidae  Banks, 1892 / Zelotes  Gistel, 1848   133 species

Zelotes subterraneus (C. L. Koch, 1833)

Description

Male palp with straight keel tip. Embolus long and narrow. Prosoma brown-black to black. Opisthosoma brown-black to black, with dark brown scuticula.

Body length male: 5.5-7.8 mm
Body length female: 6.0-9.2 mm
Additional information

In woodland, heathland, dry meadows, boggy areas, under stones, bark and in litter layer, up to 1300 m

Distribution
  Presence
  No data
Global distribution (WSC 2026): Europe, Cyprus, Turkey, Caucasus, Russia (Europe to Far East), Kazakhstan, Central Asia, China
Phenology
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
 male  female
Figures
Distribution List

"No references" does not mean that the species does not occur in this country, but that we have not yet inserted the reference for it. We are working on it.

Andorra   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Austria   (Thaler & Knoflach, 2004b) ||| Azerbaijan   (Otto, 2022) ||| Belarus   (Ivanov, 2013) ||| Belgium   (Bosmans & Van Keer, 2017) ||| Bulgaria   (Blagoev et al., 2018) ||| Cyprus   (Danışman & Ülker, 2023) ||| Czechia   (Růžička & Řezáč, 2022a) ||| Denmark   (Scharff & Gudik-Sørensen, 2006) ||| Estonia   (Vilbaste, 1987) ||| Finland   (Koponen et al., 2016) ||| France   (Le Peru, 2007) ||| Georgia   (Otto, 2022) ||| Germany   (Blick et al., 2016) ||| Greece   (Bosmans & Chatzaki, 2005) ||| Greece / Crete   (Bosmans & Chatzaki, 2005) ||| Hungary   (Samu & Szinetár, 1999) ||| Ireland  Removed (Nolan & Voss, 2025) ||| Italy   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| Latvia   (Cera, 2018) ||| Liechtenstein   (Arnold, 2001) ||| Lithuania   (Biteniekytė & Rėlys, 2012) ||| Luxembourg   (Hermann, 1998; Kreuels et al., 2019) ||| Moldova   (Vasiliev & Mikhailov, 2023) ||| Netherlands   (van Helsdingen, 2025a) ||| North Macedonia   (Komnenov, 2014) ||| Norway   (Aakra & Hauge, 2003) ||| Poland   (Rozwałka & Stanska, 2008) ||| Portugal   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Romania   (Weiss & Petrișor, 1999) ||| Russia, Central   (no references) ||| Russia, Eastern   (Tuneva & Esyunin, 2003a) ||| Russia, Northern   (Esyunin & Kazantsev, 2008) ||| Russia, Southern   (Otto, 2022) ||| Russia, Western   (no references) ||| Serbia   (Grbić et al., 2019) ||| Slovakia   (Gajdoš et al., 1999) ||| Slovenia   (Kostanjšek & Kuntner, 2015) ||| Spain   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Sweden   (Kronestedt, 2001) ||| Switzerland   (Maurer & Hänggi, 1990) ||| Turkey (Asia)   (Danışman et al., 2025a) ||| Turkey (Europe)   (Demircan Aksan & Topçu, 2022c) ||| Ukraine   (Polchaninova & Prokopenko, 2019) ||| United Kingdom   (Lavery, 2019) |||
References

Aakra K, Hauge E (2003) Checklist of Norwegian spiders (Arachnida: Araneae), including Svalbard and Jan Mayen. Norwegian Journal of Entomology 50: 109-129 pdf

Almquist S (2007) Swedish Araneae, part 2 – families Dictynidae to Salticidae. Insect Systematics & Evolution, Supplement 63(2006): 285-601 pdf

Arnold K (2001) Beitrag zur Spinnenfauna (Arachnida, Araneae) des Fürstentums Liechtenstein. Berichte der Botanisch-Zoologischen Gesellschaft Liechtenstein-Sargans-Werdenberg 28: 211-244 pdf

Azheganova N S (1968) Kratkii opredelitel' paukov (Aranei) lesnoi i lesostepnoi zony SSSR. Akademia Nauk SSSR, 149pp. pdf

Biteniekytė M, Rėlys V (2012) The checklist of Lithuanian spiders (Arachnida: Araneae). Biologija 57: 148-158 pdf

Blagoev G, Deltshev C, Lazarov S, Naumova M (2018) The spiders (Araneae) of Bulgaria. Version: August 2018. National Museum of Natural History, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. Online at http://www.nmnhs.com/spiders-bulgaria/ (accessed on 10.9.2018) pdf

Blick T, Finch O-D, Harms K H, Kiechle J, Kielhorn K-H , Kreuels M, Malten A, Martin D, Muster C, Nährig D, Platen R, Rödel I, Scheidler M, Staudt A, Stumpf H, Tolke D (2016) Rote Liste und Gesamtartenliste der Spinnen (Arachnida: Araneae) Deutschlands. 3. Fassung, Stand April 2008, einzelne Änderungen und Nachträge bis August 2015. Naturschutz und Biologische Vielfalt 70/4: 383-510 pdf

Bosmans R, Chatzaki M (2005) A catalogue of the spiders of Greece – a critical review of all spider species cited from Greece with their localities. Nieuwsbrief van de Belgische arachnologische Vereniging 20 (2, suppl.): 1-124 pdf

Bosmans R, Van Keer K (2017) Een herziene soortenlijst van de Belgische spinnen (Araneae). Nieuwsbrief van de Belgische Arachnologische Vereniging 32: 39-69 pdf

Branco V V, Morano E, Cardoso P (2019) An update to the Iberian spider checklist (Araneae). Zootaxa 4614: 201-254 pdf

Brændegaard J (1966) Edderkopper: Eller Spindlere I Danmarks Fauna 72: 1-224 pdf

Cera I (2018) The checklist of Latvian spiders (Arachnida: Araneae). Environmental and Experimental Biology 16: 139-152 pdf

Danışman T, Kunt K B, Özkütük R S, Coşar İ (2025a) The checklist of the spiders of Turkey. Version 2025 [last updated 22 July 2025], online at http://www.spidersofturkey.info pdf

Danışman T, Ülker A (2023) Zelotes subterraneus (C. L. Koch, 1833) (Araneae: Gnaphosidae), a new spider record for Cyprus. Acta Zoologica Cypria 2(1): 1-3 pdf

Demircan Aksan N, Topçu A (2022c) A preliminary checklist of the spider fauna of European Türkiye. Serket 19: 39-56 pdf

Esyunin S L, Kazantsev D K (2008) On the spider (Aranei) fauna of the Pechoro-Ilychskiy Reserve (north Urals), with the description of a new Agroeca species (Liocranidae). Arthropoda Selecta 16: 245-250 pdf

Gajdoš P, Svatoň J, Sloboda J (1999) Katalóg pavúkov Slovenska. Catalogue of Slovakian spiders. Ústav kr. ekol. SAV, Bratislava, 337 pp.

Grbić G, Hänggi A, Gajić I, Vaselek S, Ivković S (2019) Spiders (Araneae) of the Deliblato Sands (Serbia). Acta Entomologica Serbica 24: 79-93 pdf

Grimm U (1985) Die Gnaphosidae Mitteleuropas (Arachnida, Araneae). Abhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg (NF) 26: 1-318 pdf

Helsdingen P J van (2025a) Catalogus van de Nederlandse spinnen. Versie 2025.1. 249 pp. pdf

Hermann E (1998) Die Spinnen (Araneae) ausgewählter Halbtrockenrasen im Osten Luxemburgs. Bulletin de la Société des naturalistes Luxembourgeois 99: 189-199 pdf

Isaia M, Tolve M, Pantini P (2025) Araneae.it: 2.0: the new updated version of the digital catalog of the Italian spiders and other arachnids (Arachnida: Araneae, Opiliones, Scorpiones, Pseudoscorpiones, Palpigradi, Solifugae). Fragmenta Entomologica 57: 197-204 pdf

Ivanov V V (2013) The checklist of Belarusian spiders (Arachnida, Araneae). Zoology and Ecology 4: 293-311 pdf

Jézéquel J F (1962a) Contribution à l'étude des Zelotes femelles (Araneida, Labidognatha, Drassodidae "Gnaphosidae") de la fauna française. Verhandlungen der Deutschen Zoologischen Gesellschaft (Zool. Anz.) 25(Suppl.): 519-532 pdf

Komnenov M (2014) Spider fauna of the Osogovo Mt. Range, Northeastern Macedonia. Fauna Balkana 2: 1-267 pdf

Koponen S, Fritzén N R, Pajunen T (2016) Checklist of spiders in Finland (Araneae). 6th version, December 2016, online at http://biolcoll.utu.fi/arach/checklist_of_spiders_in_Finland.htm pdf

Kostanjšek R, Kuntner M (2015) Araneae Sloveniae: a national spider species checklist. ZooKeys 474: 1-91 pdf

Kreuels M, Staudt A, Christian S (2019) Die Spinnenfauna von Luxemburg – eine Zusammenstellung der Nachweise aus den Jahren 1906-2018 (Arachnida: Araneae). Bulletin de la Société des naturalistes luxembourgeois 121: 203-230 pdf

Kronestedt T (2001) Checklist of Spiders (Araneae) in Sweden [Preliminary version February 2001] pdf

Lavery A (2019) A revised checklist of the spiders of Great Britain and Ireland. Arachnology 18: 196-212 pdf

Le Peru B (2007) Catalogue et répartition des araignées de France. Revue Arachnologique 16: 1-468 pdf

Løvbrekke H (unpubl.)

Maurer R, Hänggi A (1990) Katalog der schweizerischen Spinnen. Documenta Faunistica Helvetiae 12 pdf

Miller F (1967) Studien über die Kopulationsorgane der Spinnengattung Zelotes, Micaria, Robertus und Dipoena nebst Beschreibung einiger neuen oder unvollkommen bekannten Spinnenarten. Přírodovědné práce ústavů Československé Akademie Věd v Brně (N.S.) 1: 251-298 pdf

Morka G H (unpubl.)

Murphy J A, Platnick N I (1986) On Zelotes subterraneus (C. L. Koch) in Britain (Araneae, Gnaphosidae). Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 7: 97-100 pdf

Nolan M, Voss S (2025) The vouched, the unvouched and a digital phantom; four spiders (Araneae) published for, but not occurring in Ireland. Bulletin of the Irish Biogeographical Society 48: 280-286 pdf

Noordam A P (1992) Gnaphosidae (Araneae) of the Netherlands, drawings, some notes, and some thoughts about ant-mimicry. viii & 16 pp. Published by the author. pdf

Otto S (2022) Caucasian spiders. A faunistic database on the spiders of the Caucasus Ecoregion. Database version 02.2022. Internet: caucasus-spiders.info.

Polchaninova N, Prokopenko E (2019) An updated checklist of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Left-Bank Ukraine. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 57: 60-64 & App pdf

Roberts M J (1995) Collins Field Guide: Spiders of Britain & Northern Europe. HarperCollins, London, 383 pp. pdf

Rozwałka R, Stanska M (2008) Check-list of spiders (Araneae) of Poland. 1. December 2008. online at http://www.arachnologia.edu.pl/en/species/8-spiders-of-poland.html pdf

Růžička V, Řezáč M (2022a) Seznam pavouků České republiky. List of spiders of the Czech Republic. Online at https://www.arachnology.cz/seznam-pavouku-cr-26.html and https://www.arachnology.cz/en/seznam-pavouku-cr-26.html pdf

Samu F, Szinetár C (1999) Bibliographic check list of the Hungarian spider fauna. Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 11: 161-184 pdf

Scharff N, Gudik-Sørensen O (2006) Katalog over Danmarks edderkopper (Araneae). Catalogue of the spiders of Denmark (Araneae). Entomologiske Meddelelser 74: 3-71 pdf

Thaler K, Knoflach B (2004b) Zur Faunistik der Spinnen (Araneae) von Österreich: Gnaphosidae, Thomisidae (Dionycha pro parte). Linzer Biologische Beiträge 36: 417-484 pdf

Tullgren A (1946) Svensk spindelfauna. 3. Egentiliga spinddlar. Araneae Fam 5-7. Clubionidae, Zoridae och Gnaphosidae. Stockholm (Entomol Fören.): 141 pp. pdf

Tuneva T K, Esyunin S L (2003a) A review of the Gnaphosidae fauna of the Urals (Aranei), 3. New species and new records, chiefly from the south Urals. Arthropoda Selecta 11: 223-234 pdf

Vasiliev A I, Mikhailov K G (2023) Annotated checklist of spiders (Araneae) of the Republic of Moldova. Invertebrate Zoology 20: 307-342 pdf

Vilbaste A (1987) Eesti Ämblikud (Aranei). Annoteeritud nimestik. Estonian spiders (Aranei). An annotated check list. Valgus, Tallinn. 113 pp. & 512 maps on 67 unpag. pages pdf

Weiss I, Petrișor A (1999) List of the spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) from Romania. Travaux du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle “Grigore Antipa” 41: 79-107 pdf

WSC (2025) World Spider Catalog. Version 26. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (28.2.2025) doi: 10.24436/2 pdf

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