Dürers Nashorn und die Nahrung von Eresus cinnberinus (Olivier) (Araneae: Eresidae)

• Main Author: Walter, Jakob E.
• Format: Article
• Language: deu
• Published: Arachnologische Gesellschaft (ARAGES) 1999-07-01
• Series: Arachnologische Mitteilungen
• Subjects: Eresus sp.; Araneae; Eresidae; prey; Central Europe
• Online Access: http://www.arages.de/aramit/pdf/Heft_17/AM17_11_19.pdf

The first rhinoceros of the post-roman era reached Europe in 1513. Albrecht Dürer, who had not seen the animal himself, made a woodcut that contained several odd features. This woodcut determined the appearance of rhinocerus for the next two centuries. - The first reports on the food of Eresus sp., citing tiger beetles and dung-beetles as principal prey items, had a somewhat similar fate, i.e. they were accepted as facts for more than half a century. - The present study, performed in Valais, Switzerland, shows E. cinnaberinus to have a much broader prey spectrum: Beetles, half of them carabids, constitued 42%, ants 36%, other insects 17%; 3% were made up by arthropods other than insects. No tiger beetles or dung-beetles were found. - It can be concluded that even numerous repetitions in textbooks may not reflect the true story.