IUCN SSC Mid-Atlantic Island Invertebrates Specialist Group

Species

BackHogna maderiana Walckenaer, 1837

Hogna maderiana Walckenaer, 1837

Madeira Wolf Spider / Tarantula-da-Madeira

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

Countries of Occurrence:
Portugal - Madeira

Archipelago(s):
Madeira

Assessor/s:
Luis Crespo
Mario Boieiro
Paulo A.V. Borges
Pedro Cardoso
Cardoso, P., Crespo, L.C., Silva, I., Borges, P. & Boieiro, M.

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

Contributor/s:

Facilitators / Compilers/s:


Assessment Rationale:

The Madeira Wolf Spider (Hogna maderiana) is known throughout the island of Madeira (Portugal) in open habitats. 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, Hogna maderiana is assessed as Least Concern (LC), since the species seems to be able to live on several habitat types, even close to human settlements and the population is therefore assumed to be stable. A monitoring of population trends should be conducted to confirm species status.

Geographic Range:

Hogna maderiana is known throughout the island of Madeira (Portugal) in open habitats. Multiple collection sites are recorded for the species, usually in open areas but at all altitudes, from coastal areas to the plateau of Paúl da Serra (Walckenaer 1837, Johnson 1863, Thorell 1875, Warburton 1892, Simon 1897, KulczyƄski 1899, Schenkel 1938, Roewer 1960, Denis 1962, Denis 1963, Wunderlich 1992, Wunderlich 1995). 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):
304-908,368 (km2)
Area of Occupancy (AOO):
28-908,368 (km2)
Elevation Lower Limit:
0 (m)
Elevation Upper Limit:
1800 (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 in several habitat types, even close to human settlements and the population is therefore assumed to be stable.

Habitat and Ecology

The Madeira Wolf Spider seems to be able to live in several open habitat types, including coastal areas and high-altitude plateaus dominated by grasses. The species is an active ground hunter feeding mainly on small/medium size arthropods.

Major Threat(s):

There are no known threats to the species.

Conservation Actions

No specific conservation measures are in place for this species. The disjunct distribution of the species is currently being researched and might lead to a change in the current estimated maps. Monitoring of population trends should be conducted to confirm species status.