Drapetisca socialis is a species of spider belonging to the family Linyphiidae. It is distributed across most of the Palearctic region. Even among the diminutive spiders in this family, this is a very small species with a body length (excluding legs) of just 3 mm. It is usually found motionless on its delicate web, built on the trunk of a tree, where its mottled body and banded legs, allied to its tiny size, make it very difficult to see (giving it the common name invisible spider). This species of spider weaves webs made of silk so fine that it seems invisible; it can only be seen if the light falls on it at the right angle. As a result of this 'invisible' web, it appears that the spider is resting on tree trunks - in reality, all 8 legs are resting on its web. The species of spider is found widely distributed throughout Britain and other areas of Northern Europe.Stephen Dalton; Spiders The Ultimate Predators
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Michalik & Ramirez 2014Pekár 2014aBirkhofer et al. 2017Entling et al. 2007Buchar & Růžička 2002Staręga et al. 2001SLU 2020Gajdoš et al. 2014Bruun & Lissner 2019Hyvärinen et al. 2019Liste France 2018Harvey et al. 2017Henriksen & Hilmo 2015Maelfait et al. 1998Řezáč et al. 2015Blick et al. 2016Kielhorn 2017Finch 2004Martin 2012Buchholz et al. 2011Hiebsch & Tolke 1996Sacher & Platen 2004Lemke et al. 2013Blick & Scheidler 2004Nentwig et al. 2018Cardoso et al. 2011
Morphometry1
Body length♀4.35·♂3.75 mm
Predation2
Hunting guildsheet web weavers
Simple hunting guild classificationcursorial
Ecology9
Ballooninghigh
Circadian activitydiurnal
Light0.375 mm
Light 2shaded
Moisture 10.625 mm
Moisture 2semi-humid
Regional IUCN Red List categoryLeast Concern (lc)
Regional non-IUCN Red List categorySave or at low risk (SA)
Stratumvegetation
Anatomy1
Sperm transfer formcleistospermia
Defence1
Primary defenceCrypsis
05DNA & barcoding68 specimens
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Drapetisca socialis has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
DNA specimens68
BINs1
Marker genes1
eDNA detections864
Countries12
The DNA barcodethe species' typical barcode, built from every sequenced specimen
COI-5P657 bp consensus58 specimens
ACGT
▸ drag or hover over the strip to read any position — letter and how much it varies
Violet ticks below the strip = positions where individuals differ; flat = the species' unchanging signature. 98% of positions are identical in every specimen.
Where individuals differ — all 16 variable positions, in barcode order
Each circle is a barcode variant; bigger = more specimens, colour = region. Lines join the most similar variants and the tick marks count the mutations between them — a tight cluster is one “dialect”, a long line a more divergent lineage. Click a circle to list its actual specimens.
Diversity (π)0.84%
Haplotypes5
BIN1
Most divergent pair1.8%
EuropeAsia
Closest relatives by DNA barcode
The species whose COI barcode is most similar to this one — a quick “who is this most like”. The percentage is how much the barcode differs; it approximates, but is not, the full evolutionary tree.
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
★COI-5P
animal barcode
06Genome at a glanceGoaT
The complete instruction manualDrapetisca socialis carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
Chromosomes2n = 24 n = 12
Chromosome-count records — grouped by value · 2n = full set, n = gamete · click a value for sources & references
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy63% within 1 km
≤100 m 1 908≤1 km 904≤10 km 1 564>10 km 59
4 435 georeferenced · 726 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor5 161
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy59% within 1 km
≤100 m 491≤1 km 128≤10 km 399>10 km 35
1 053 georeferenced · 531 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence1 584
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Coordinate accuracy
no georeferenced coordinates · 3 records without
Open the mapnot free-living3
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions16 of 45 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Helsinki, FI
271
Brussels, BE
260
SLU Artdatabankenlocation not on record
166
Copenhagen, DK
109
Staatliches Museum fuer Naturkunde Karlsruhe (State Museum of Natural History)location not on record
59
Senckenberg Museum fuer Naturkunde Goerlitzlocation not on record
37
Ekaterinburg, RU
35
Akademia Pomorska w Słupskulocation not on record
22
NTNU-VMlocation not on record
21
Bern, CH
19
Uniwersytet w Białymstokulocation not on record
18
Paris, FR
16
Museum of Zoology at the University of Bergen, Invertebrate Collectionlocation not on record
16
Tartu, EE
14
Muzeum i Instytut Zoologii Polskiej Akademii Nauklocation not on record
14
Bonn, DE
13
RMZlocation not on record
12
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznańlocation not on record
11
Tilburg, NL
10
BioFokuslocation not on record
9
Frankfurt am Main
9
Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Researchlocation not on record
8
Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology (IPAE), UB RASlocation not on record
8
SNSDlocation not on record
6
Rovaniemi, FI
5
MZLUlocation not on record
5
Paro, BT
5
Metsähallituslocation not on record
5
European Distributed Institute of Taxonomy (EDIT)location not on record
4
University of Tokyo, Department of Zoologylocation not on record
4
South Kensington, GB
4
Natural History Museum, Londonlocation not on record
3
Washington, US
3
neflocation not on record
3
Natural History Museum Rotterdamlocation not on record
3
Bavarian State Collection of Zoologylocation not on record
2
SNSB-Zoologische Staatssammlung Münchenlocation not on record
2
Musee d'Histoire Naturallelocation not on record
2
1
Prioksko-Terrasnyi Biosphere Reservelocation not on record
1
Provincia di Livornolocation not on record
1
Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology (IPAE) UB RASlocation not on record
1
Cambridge, US
1
Zoologisches Museum Hamburglocation not on record
1
University of Oulu, Zoological Museumlocation not on record
1
45 institutions · 1 220 of 1 584 vouchered records shown · 364 without an institution code
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
09Environmental DNA864 detections
Where the DNA of Drapetisca socialis was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found864
Studies independent surveys4
Countries12
Verifiable raw sequence linked801
Signal confidence: moderateweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 864 detections have coordinates
Open the map12 countries0
Mixed forestforestKiefernwaldMischwald, auf niedriger VegetationUrban
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median11.2 °C 6.90–15.8
Seasonal swing summer↔winter20.5 °C
Max temp (day)14.7 °C 9.20–19.2
Min temp (night)8.10 °C 3.70–12.4
Precipitation72.1 mm/mo 54.7–102
Air humidity62.3 % 57.4–66.1
Moisture balance14.3 mm/mo -46.9–48.1
Vapour deficit507 Pa 328–710
Wind speed3.00 m/s 2.10–4.50
Cloud cover51.0 % 44.8–59.8
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 861 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation6 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility6 754 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI864 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics68 specimens↗
World Spider Trait DBMasaryk University14 traits · 26 refs↗
World Spider CatalogNaturhist. Museum Bernworld catalog↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome & karyotype↗