Spiders are a highly diversified group of arthropods and play an important role in terrestrial ecosystems as ubiquitous predators, which makes them a suitable group to test a variety of eco-evolutionary hypotheses. For this purpose, knowledge of a diverse range of species traits is required. Until now, data on spider traits have been scattered across thousands of publications produced for over two centuries and written in diverse languages. To facilitate access to such data, we developed an online database for archiving and accessing spider traits at a global scale. The database has been designed to accommodate a great variety of traits (e.g. ecological, behavioural and morphological) measured at individual, species or higher taxonomic levels. Records are accompanied by extensive metadata (e.g. location and method). The database is curated by an expert team, regularly updated and open to any user. A future goal of the growing database is to include all published and unpublished data on spider traits provided by experts worldwide and to facilitate broad cross-taxon assays in functional ecology and comparative biology. Database URL:https://spidertraits.sci.muni.cz/.

Biology Centre Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Entomology Branišovská 31 České Budějovice 370 05 Czechia

CE3C Centre for Ecology Evolution and Environmental Changes Azorean Biodiversity Group and Universidade dos Açores Angra do Heroísmo Azores Portugal

Centro Universitario Regional del Este Universidad de la República Ruta 8 Km 282 Treinta y Tres Uruguay

Crop Research Institute Drnovská 507 Prague 6 CZ 16106 Czechia

Departamento de Biología Animal Edafología y Geología Universidad de La Laguna La Laguna Tenerife 38206 Spain

Department of Anthropology University of Zürich Winterthurerstrasse 190 Zürich 8057 Switzerland

Department of Biological Sciences Macquarie University 6 Wally's Walk Sydney NSW 2109 Australia

Department of Biology Ecological Synthesis and Biodiversity Conservation Lab Federal Rural University of Pernambuco Dom Manuel de Medeiros s n Dois Irmãos CEP Recife PE 50710 270 Brazil

Department of Botany and Zoology Faculty of Science Masaryk University Kotlářská 2 Brno 611 37 Czechia

Department of Ecology Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus Senftenberg Konrad Wachsmann Allee 6 Cottbus 03046 Germany

Department of Evolutionary Biology Ecology and Environmental Sciences and Biodiversity Research Institute Universitat de Barcelona Av Diagonal 643 Barcelona 08028 Spain

Department of Forest Ecology Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology Mendel University in Brno Zemědělská 3 Brno 613 00 Czech Republic

Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology University of Turin Via Accademia Albertina 13 Turin 10123 Italy

Division of Arachnology Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales 'Bernardino Rivadavia' CONICET Av Ángel Gallardo 470 Buenos Aires C1405DJR Argentina

Fundación Protectora Ambiental Planadas Tolima (FUPAPT Tolima Colombia

Grupo de Investigaciones Entomológicas de Tenerife C San Eulogio 15 1º La Laguna Canary Islands 38108 Spain

Institute of Ecology and Evolution University of Bern Baltzerstrasse 6 Bern 3012 Switzerland

Instituto de Biología Subtropical Puerto Iguazú Argentina

Island Ecology and Evolution Research Group Instituto de Productos Naturales y Agrobiología La Laguna Tenerife Canary Islands 38206 Spain

Laboratory for Integrative Biodiversity Research Finnish Museum of Natural History LUOMUS University of Helsinki Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu 13 Helsinki 00014 Finland

Molecular Ecology Group Corso Tonolli 50 Pallanza 28922 Italy

Natural Sciences Auckland War Memorial Museum Parnell Auckland 1010 New Zealand

School of Biological Sciences University of Western Australia 35 Stirling highway Crawley WA 6009 Australia

Slovak Academy of Sciences Institute of Forest Ecology Ľ Štúra 2 Zvolen 960 01 Slovak Republic

Te Aka Mātuatua School of Science University of Waikato Private Bag 3105 Hamilton 3240 New Zealand

UMR CNRS 6553 ECOBIO Université de Rennes 1 263 Avenue du General Leclerc Rennes 35042 France

Zoological Institute and Museum University of Greifswald Loitzer Str 26 Greifswald 17489 Germany

See more in PubMed

World Spider Catalog (2021) World Spider Catalog. Version 22.0 Natural History Museum Bern. https://wsc.nmbe.ch (20 February 2021, date last accessed).

Dimitrov D. and Hormiga G. (2021) Spider diversification through space and time. Annu. Rev. Entomol., 66, 225–241. PubMed

Nyffeler M. and Birkhofer K. (2017) An estimated 400–800 million tons of prey are annually killed by the global spider community. Sci. Nat., 104, 30. PubMed PMC

Michalko R., Pekár S., Duľa M.. et al. (2019) Global patterns in the biocontrol efficacy of spiders: a meta‐analysis. Global Ecol. Biogeogr., 28, 1366–1378.

Cardoso P., Arnedo M.A., Triantis K.A.. et al. (2010) Drivers of diversity in Macaronesian spiders and the role of species extinctions. J. Biogeogr., 37, 1034–1046.

Heim M., Keerl D. and Scheibel T. (2009) Spider silk: from soluble protein to extraordinary fiber. Angew. Chem. Int. Edit., 48, 3584–3596. PubMed

Matavel A., Estrada G., De Marco Almeida F. (2016) Spider venom and drug discovery: a review. In: Gopalakrishnakone P, Corzo G, de Lima M, Diego-García E (eds). Spider Venoms. Toxinology. Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 273–292.

Liu J., May-Collado J.L., Pekár S.. et al. (2016) A revised and dated phylogeny of cobweb spiders (Araneae, Araneoidea, Theridiidae): a predatory Cretaceous lineage diversifying in the era of the ants. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol., 94, 658–675. PubMed

Pekár S., Coddington J.A. and Blackledge T. (2012) Evolution of stenophagy in spiders (Araneae): evidence based on the comparative analysis of spider diets. Evolution, 66, 776–806. PubMed

Lowe E.C., Wolff J.O., Aceves-Aparicio A.. et al. (2020) Towards establishment of a centralized spider traits database. J. Arachnol., 48, 103–109.

Mammola S., Michalik P., Hebets E.A.. et al. (2017) Record breaking achievements by spiders and the scientists who study them. PeerJ, 5, e3972. PubMed PMC

Kissling W.D., Walls R., Bowser A.. et al. (2018a) Towards global data products of Essential Biodiversity Variables on species traits. Nat. Ecol. Evol., 2, 1531–1540. PubMed

Kissling W.D., Ahumada J.A., Bowser A.. et al. (2018b) Building essential biodiversity variables (EBV s) of species distribution and abundance at a global scale. Biol. Rev., 93, 600–625. PubMed

Kattge J., Diaz S., Lavorel S.. et al. (2011) TRY–a global database of plant traits. Glob. Change Biol., 17, 2905–2935.

Madin J.S., Anderson K.D., Andreasen M.H.. et al. (2016) The Coral Trait Database, a curated database of trait information for coral species from the global oceans. Sci. Data, 3, 1–22. PubMed PMC

Grimm A., Ramírez A.M.P., Moulherat S.. et al. (2014) Life-history trait database of European reptile species. Nat. Conserv., 9, 45.

Brun P., Payne M.R. and Kiørboe T. (2017) A trait database for marine copepods. Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 9, 99–113.

Homburg K., Homburg N., Schäfer F.. et al. (2014) Carabids.org–a dynamic online database of ground beetle species traits (Coleoptera, Carabidae). Insect Conserv. Divers., 7, 195–205.

Kattge J., Bönisch G., Díaz S.. et al. (2020) TRY plant trait database–enhanced coverage and open access. Glob. Change Biol., 26, 119–188. PubMed

Nentwig W., Blick T., Bosmans R.. et al. (2021) Spiders of Europe. Version 2.2021. https://www.araneae.nmbe.ch (15 February 2021, date last accessed).

Araujo D., Schneider M.C., Paula-Neto E.. et al. (2021) The Spider Cytogenetic Database. www.arthropodacytogenetics.bio.br/spiderdatabase (10 February 2021, date last accessed).

Wood D.L., Miljenović T., Cai S.. et al. (2009) ArachnoServer: a database of protein toxins from spiders. BMC Genomics, 10, 375. PubMed PMC

Cardoso P., Pekár S., Jocqué R.. et al. (2011) Global patterns of guild composition and functional diversity of spiders. PLoS One, 6, e21710. PubMed PMC

Birkhofer K., Wolters V. and Diekötter T. (2014) Grassy margins along organically managed cereal fields foster trait diversity and taxonomic distinctness of arthropod communities. Insect Conserv. Divers., 7, 274–287.

Wolff J.O., Nentwig W. and Gorb S.N. (2013) The great silk alternative: multiple co-evolution of web loss and sticky hairs in spiders. PLoS One, 8, e62682. PubMed PMC

Michalko R. and Pekár S. (2016) Different hunting strategies of generalist predators result in functional differences. Oecologia, 181, 1187–1197. PubMed

Pekár S. (2012) Spiders (Araneae) in the pesticide world: an ecotoxicological review. Pest Manag. Sci., 68, 1438–1446. PubMed

Pekár S. (2014) Comparative analysis of primary defences in spiders (Araneae). J. Anim. Ecol., 83, 779–790. PubMed

Pekár S. and Toft S. (2015) Trophic specialisation in a predatory group: the case of prey-specialised spiders (Araneae). Biol. Rev., 90, 744–761. PubMed

Moretti M., Dias A.T., De Bello F.. et al. (2017) Handbook of protocols for standardized measurement of terrestrial invertebrate functional traits. Func. Ecol., 31, 558–567.

Birkhofer K., Smith H.G., Weisser W.W.. et al. (2015) Land‐use effects on the functional distinctness of arthropod communities. Ecography, 38, 889–900.

Gallagher R.V., Falster D.S., Maitner B.S.. et al. (2020) Open Science principles for accelerating trait-based science across the Tree of Life. Nat. Ecol. Evol., 4, 294–303. PubMed

Birkhofer K., Gossner M.M., Diekötter T.. et al. (2017) Land‐use type and intensity differentially filter traits in above‐ and below‐ground arthropod communities. J. Anim. Ecol., 86, 511–520. PubMed

Wilkinson M.D., Dumontier M., Aalbersberg I.J.. et al. (2016) Comment: the FAIR guiding principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Sci. Data, 3, 160018. PubMed PMC

Wong M.K., Guénard B. and Lewis O.T. (2019) Trait‐based ecology of terrestrial arthropods. Biol. Rev., 94, 999–1022. PubMed PMC

McGill B.J., Enquist B.J., Weiher E.. et al. (2006) Rebuilding community ecology from functional traits. Trends Ecol. Evol., 21, 178–185. PubMed

Schneider F.D., Fichtmueller D., Gossner M.M.. et al. (2019) Towards an ecological trait‐data standard. Methods Ecol Evol., 10, 2006–2019.

R Core Team (2020) R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. https://www.R-project.org/ (21 May 2020, date last accessed).

Paradis E. and Schliep K. (2018) ape 5.0: an environment for modern phylogenetics and evolutionary analyses in R. Bioinformatics, 35, 526–528. PubMed

Titley M.A., Snaddon J.L. and Turner E.C. (2017) Scientific research on animal biodiversity is systematically biased towards vertebrates and temperate regions. PLoS One, 12, e0189577. PubMed PMC

Cardoso P. (2021) ARAKNO: ARAchnid KNowledge Online. R package. https://cran.rstudio.com/web/packages/arakno/index.html version 1.1.0. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=arakno (2 June 2021, date last accessed).

Wheeler W.C., Coddington J.A., Crowley L.M.. et al. (2017) The spider tree of life: phylogeny of Araneae based on target‐gene analyses from an extensive taxon sampling. Cladistics, 33, 574–616. PubMed

Datasets of traits of zodariid spiders (Araneae: Zodariidae)