''Opilio canestrinii'' is a species of harvestman. ''O. canestrinii'' probably originates from Italy, but has invaded central Europe since the late 1970 and has since almost everywhere replaced the similar ''O. parietinus''. It is most often found on house walls.
Similar species: Harvestmen
By Pudding4brains
Public Domain
Uploaded Nov 2, 2019. Captured in Den Alerdinckweg 2A, 8055 PE Laag Zuthem, Netherlands.
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Opilio parietinus is probably a more eastern/Asian species that has arrived here hundreds of years ago, quite possibly along early trade routes, and found suitable habitats to stay (mostly around buildings).
Opilio canestrinii has suddenly expanded it's range invasively up north, from it's original range in Italy/Balkan, over the past three or four decades.
It's not fair to "blame" just Opilio canestrinii however, as the equally invasive Dicranopalpus ramosus may also have had some part in it (but it shares a little less of the same habitats) and also changes in how we construct buildings will certainly have had an impact (maybe even bigger!), as Opilio parietinus thrives on old brick walls with older, bad quality mortar joints. Modern concrete buildings with smooth facades or even newly jointed "smooth" walls don't cut it for this species.
Currently the only spot(s) where it survived are dark, moist, cold, windy oldish brick walls with lots of space between the bricks. In the Netherlands it's a tunnel under a railway that is always wet, dark and somewhat windy. In Germany I know of a few spots at the north facing walls of old buildings, mostly close to staircases down to a cellar or some such. These cold habitats seem to be less inviting to the Mediterranean newcomers, so O. parietinus seems to have found a niche in these where it may still survive for the time being, but I'm fairly sure these habitats are too small to sustain these relict populations long term. Posted 5 years ago, modified 5 years ago