Catching of spiders in shallow subterranean habitats in the Czech Republic.

Spiders occurring in soils and fissured rocks were investigated using pipe traps. Four microphthalmic species, namely Iberina microphthalma, Porrhomma egeria, Porrhomma microps and Porrhomma cambridgei were collected. Iberina microphthalma is reported from the Czech Republic for the first time. The importance of collecting material by complex pipe traps (consisting of a perforated pipe and a set of removable cups) to record the depth distribution of spiders in subterranean habitats is stressed. The importance of the soil and fissure network formed by sandy marlite bedrock and of alluvial soils for the life of subterranean spiders is documented.