Zodariid spiders occur predominantly in the southern Europe but during the last three decades a few species (e.g. Z. germanicum, Z. rubidum) began to spread to the Central European habitats, including the Czech Republic. A very few information concerning their life-history has been available until recently. Investigations focused on two species occurring m the Czech Republic (i.e. Z. germanicum and Z. rubidum) revealed remarkable diversity of their biology, ecology and karyotype. These results as well a s the myrmecophagy and mimicry render zodariid spiders among the most fascinating spiders in the world, deserving further investigation. In this project I would like to continue in the study of biosystematics and ecology of another central European zodar iid species. My aim is to perform a comparative study of biology, i.e. phenology, activity, prey preference, mimicry, sexual behaviour, fecundity, brood care and karyotype of the three species: Z. italicum, Z. hamatum and Z. elegans. These information wi

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