Phycosoma

Female Phycosoma martinae, copyright Akio Tanikawa.

Belongs within: Theridiidae.

Phycosoma is a cosmopolitan genus of cobweb spiders with a high, almost cylindrical carapace in the males.

Characters (from Fitzgerald & Sirvid 2004): Male carapace often very high, near cylindrical when viewed from above, marked with dorsal grooves and depressions; female carapace, if high, is only so anteriorly. Eye region often projecting beyond clypeus; clypeus often slightly concave. Chelicerae very small, without teeth; fangs long and flat. Legs 4 1 2 3, with leg 4 slightly the longest. Female palpal claw simple. Abdomen often partially covered by dorsal scutum; colulus absent. Male palp lacking a median apophysis; conductor and embolus small. Female with two pairs of seminal receptacles; epigynal opening leading to pair of ducts connecting to posterior receptacles, with second pair of ducts connecting posterior to anterior receptacles. Epigynum with small scape.

<==Phycosoma Cambridge 1879 [incl. Trigonobothrys Simon 1889] FS04
    |--*P. oecobioides Cambridge 1879 FS04
    |--P. alta (Keyserling 1886) [=Dipoena alta] FS04
    |--P. amamiensis (Yoshida 1985) FS04
    |--P. excisum (Simon 1889) [=*Trigonobothrys excisus] FS04
    |--P. flavomarginatum (Bösenberg & Strand 1906) FS04
    |--P. inornata (Cambridge 1861) [=Theridion inornatum, Dipoena inornata] FS04
    |--P. jamesi (Roberts 1979) [=Dipoena jamesi] FS04
    |--P. japonicum (Yoshida 1985) FS04
    |--P. lineatipes (Bryant 1933) [=Dipoena lineatipes] FS04
    |--P. martinae (Roberts 1983) FS04
    |--P. menustya (Roberts 1979) [=Dipoena menustya] FS04
    |--P. mustelinum (Simon 1889) FS04
    `--P. nigromaculatum (Yoshida 1987) FS04

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

[FS04] Fitzgerald, B. M., & P. J. Sirvid. 2004. Notes on the genus Phycosoma Cambridge, 1879, senior synonym of Trigonobothrys Simon, 1889 (Theridiidae: Araneae). Tuhinga 15: 7–12.