Atypus snetsingeri male and female from an excavated purseweb. To my knowledge these are the first photographs of the male, having been only roughly drawn in the original species description and 1980 family revision. Males of purseweb spiders are rarely encountered because of the cryptic habits of Atypids generally and the brief period of male wandering. Most males of Sphodros are a bit more colorful. The A.s. male is less dramatic, ranging from black to reddish under variable lighting, with a prominent dorsal scutum and ridge around the sternum (confirmed but not shown).