The wasp spider and climate change
The wasp spider, which likes a warm climate, is spreading further through the Netherlands.
Trends
One European species that is extending its area of distribution northwards is the wasp or tiger spider. First recorded in the Netherlands in 1980, in south Limburg (the Gulp), this spider is now extending its distribution northwards. It is now found in Limburg, east Brabant and the Veluwe and here and there in the provinces of Utrecht and Zuid-Holland.
What has encouraged this heat-loving spider species to move northwards is probably the warm summers and mild winters of the last 20 years. But this species also benefits from riverside nature development projects and the invasion of grasses in heathland and moorland.
Technical note
The graph shows the number of 1 km2 grid squares in which the species was recorded in the given years. Though each grid square is not surveyed annually, it is very probable that the species is still found in the grid cells where it was recorded earlier, especially if the grid squares are inside an area of distribution. The outlying observations are of migrating animals that might not remain in these sites; they represent only a small proportion of the grid squares, however.
References
- Linden, J. van der (2000). De opmars van de wespenspin, Agriope bruennichi in Nederland (Araneae: Araneidae). Nederlandse Faunistische Mededelingen, 2: 45-53.
