A geographical distribution database of the genus Dysdera in the Canary Islands (Araneae, Dysderidae)

Abstract

The ground-dweller spider genus Dysdera shows very high species richness on the oceanic archipelago of the Canary Islands, providing one of the most outstanding examples of island radiation among spiders, only paralleled by Tetragnatha spiders on the Hawaiian archipelago. A georeferenced database of the 48 Dysdera species occurring in the Canary Islands was assembled to facilitate ongoing and future research on this remarkable lineage. All species are endemic to the archipelago except for the cosmopolitan Dysdera crocata. The dataset consists of 794 distributional records documented from 1971 to 2015, each locality being represented only once per species. Distribution maps are provided for each species, along with basic diversity and distribution information. The database and geographical maps included in this article stand for the most updated, accurate and complete information on the distribution of the spider genus Dysdera in the Canary Islands.