SPIDERS (ARANEAE) FROM THE VORA HILLS, WESTERN ALBANIA

Records of 176 spiders, belonging to 19 species and 9 families are presented, based on spider material collected using pitfall traps in the rural, degraded and protected natural forest of a typical hilly ecosystem in the Vora hills, Tirana district, Albania. The most abundant of the families was Thomisidae with 101 individuals belonging to three species. Altogether we document four new species for the Albanian spider fauna, including one species respectively for the families of Nemesiidae, Dysderidae, Thomisidae and Salticidae. Data on the habitat preferences of the new-established species and their zoogeographical distribution are also presented. A rural habitat with Olea europaea is well represented with 109 individuals. Balkan endemics (21.1%) and Mediterranean species (31.6%) emphasize the local character of this fauna.