Adults are roughly 6–10 mm long.
Fine-art photographic collection
Trachyzelotes pedestris
A ground spider that attacks a woodlouse — an armoured crustacean prey rarely documented for its entire spider family.
About this species
Trachyzelotes pedestris(C. L. Koch, 1837)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Trachyzelotes pedestris is a nocturnal ground spider of Europe and western Asia. It does not build a prey-catching web, instead stalking under stones and litter, where observations have documented predation on the common rough woodlouse.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Arachnida · Araneae · Gnaphosidae · Trachyzelotes
Accepted taxon. · checked 2026-07-15
Europe, North Africa and western AsiaBroad range and selected reference localities — not a complete occurrence map.
Europe, North Africa and western Asia
Dry ground, grassland, gardens and stony habitats, usually beneath cover.
Mostly nocturnal ground hunter.
Small arthropods, including terrestrial isopods.
Solitary; females guard egg sacs beneath stones or debris.
What makes this species remarkable?
It provided the first published record of a gnaphosid ground spider preying on the terrestrial isopod Porcellio scaber.
The attack must overcome overlapping armour plates and defensive curling; observations suggest the spider works toward softer joints or the underside rather than biting through the dorsal shield.
Instead of using a capture web, the spider hunts on foot at night and later conceals a silken egg sac under stones, separating hunting silk from reproductive silk.
Sources and scientific references
- GBIF — taxon record/search for Trachyzelotes pedestris
- Catalogue of Life — taxon search for Trachyzelotes pedestris
- Peer-reviewed record of Trachyzelotes pedestris preying on Porcellio scaber
- World Spider Catalog-linked species account and natural history
- Peer-reviewed review of Trachyzelotes and related ground spiders