Species

BackPholcus parvus Wunderlich, 1987

Pholcus parvus Wunderlich, 1987

  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Class: Arachnida
  • Order: Araneae
  • Family: Pholcidae
LC Least Concern
IUCN Red List Status:

Countries of Occurrence:
Portugal - Madeira

Archipelago(s):
Madeira

Reviewer/s:
Henriques, S. & Russell, N.

Contributor/s:

Facilitators / Compilers/s:


Assessment Rationale:

Pholcus parvus is endemic to Madeira Island, Portugal. This species has a restricted geographic range with a maximum estimate of extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO) of ca 900 km². However, Pholcus parvus is assessed as Least Concern (LC), since the preferred habitat of the species, humid laurisilva forest, is not experiencing any decline in area or quality and the population is therefore assumed to be stable. A monitoring of population trends should be conducted to confirm species status.

Geographic Range:

Pholcus parvus is known from a few sites in laurisilva forest or nearby, always in valleys close to the northern coast of Madeira Island, Portugal. Four collection sites are recorded for the species, most recently in laurisilva forest (Wunderlich 1987, Wunderlich 1995). It was possible to perform species distribution modelling to predict its potential range with confidence limits (Cardoso et al. 2017). The extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO) have a maximum estimate of ca 900 km².

Regions:
Portugal - Madeira
Extent of Occurrence (EOO):
76-912,213 (km2)
Area of Occupancy (AOO):
16-912,204 (km2)
Elevation Lower Limit:
50 (m)
Elevation Upper Limit:
1150 (m)
Biogeographic Realms:
Palearctic
Presence:
Extant
Origin:
Endemic Madeira
Seasonality:
Resident

Population:

No population size estimates exist, but the preferred habitat of the species is not experiencing any decline in area and the invasive species present should not affect the spider populations, and therefore the population is assumed to be stable.

Habitat and Ecology

Pholcus parvus is restricted to the humid laurisilva forest on the northern valleys of Madeira Island. The ecology of the species is unknown but it is almost certainly a tangle-web builder feeding on small arthropods.

Major Threat(s):

There are no known threats to the species.

Conservation Actions

No specific conservation measures are in place for the species, but most of the species range is inside the Madeira Natural Park. Monitoring of population trends should be conducted to confirm species status.