13.10.2022
The identity of the "drowned body" has been identified!
Recently, Karin Hildebrandt was watering flowers and saw a large spider fall out of the narrow snorkel of the watering can with a powerful "bubble". She had written about it on Facebook (HERE) It was a very large male of a native Araneomorphae (Pic 1). On closer inspection of this "drowned body", the spider could be identified as a mature male. First assumptions from the arachnological community based on a Pic pointed to a male of a Tegenaria parietina, a very large species of the Agelenidae, to which the well-known house spider also belongs. Further speculations, e.g. by Vanessa Oehmig, pointed to a male of the common house spider, Eratigena atrica. At the weekend we found the time to document the genitals of the male and to try to identify it. A comparison of the male's bulb with the bulbs of Tegenaria parietina and Eratigena atrica in the Bolzern et al (2013) quickly showed that Vanessa was probably right. Pic 2 and 3 show the bulb of the "drowned body" in ventral (2) and retrolateral (3) position. Pic 4 and 5 show the bulb of Tegenaria parietina in the same positions. It is easy to see that the structure of the bulb is completely different from that of the "drowned body". Finally, Pic 6 and 7 show the bulb of Eratigena atrica, also in the comparative positions and one can see the high structural similarity to our "drowned body".
Resumé:
Obviously, this "drowned body" is an unusually large male of Eratigena atrica, which unfortunately fell into the watering can while looking for a female and encountered not a female but many waters, which was its disaster. From now on, however, the unfortunate fellow may remain in our collection as a scientific object of study preserved in alcohol.
Reference:
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