Species

BackRugathodes madeirensis Wunderlich, 1987

Rugathodes madeirensis Wunderlich, 1987

  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Class: Arachnida
  • Order: Araneae
  • Family: Theridiidae
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:

Rugathodes madeirensis is endemic to Madeira Island, Portugal. This species has a restricted geographic range with a maximum estimated extent of occurrence (EOO) and area of occupancy (AOO) of ca 800 km². However, Rugathodes madeirensis is assessed as Least Concern (LC), since the habitat of the species is not experiencing any decline in area or quality and the population is therefore assumed to be stable. Additionally the species' range is inside a protected area and there are no known threats to it. A monitoring of population trends should be conducted to confirm species status.

Geographic Range:

Rugathodes madeirensis is one of the most common species in Madeira Island, known throughout the laurisilva forest and also other habitats including pine plantations and close to urban areas. Multiple collection sites are recorded for the species, mostly recent and in laurisilva forest (Schenkel 1938, Denis 1962, Wunderlich 1987, Wunderlich 1992, Crespo et al. 2014). It was possible to perform species distribution modelling to predict its potential range with confidence limits (Cardoso et al. 2017).

Regions:
Portugal - Madeira
Extent of Occurrence (EOO):
235-792,432 (km2)
Area of Occupancy (AOO):
188-792,404 (km2)
Elevation Lower Limit:
50 (m)
Elevation Upper Limit:
1700 (m)
Biogeographic Realms:
Palearctic
Presence:
Extant
Origin:
Endemic Madeira
Seasonality:
Resident

Population:

No population size estimates exist, but the species seems to be able to live within several habitat types and the population is therefore assumed to be stable.

Habitat and Ecology

Rugathodes madeirensis is one of the most common species in Madeira Island, known throughout the laurisilva forest and also other habitats including pine plantations and close to urban areas. This species is a cobweb spider at all vegetation layers 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.