Theridiidae

Female Dipoena melanogaster, from Spiders of the Netherlands.

Belongs within: Araneoidea.
Contains: Steatoda, Latrodectus, Enoplognatha, Phycosoma, Robertus, Argyrodes, Theridion, Achaearanea.

The Theridiidae, the cobweb spiders, are a cosmopolitan family of spiders that construct irregular webs with radiating threads. Prey is taken using a wrap-bite attack involving sticky silk (Jocqué & Dippenaar-Schoeman 2007). This family includes a number of species that live in association with humans. Notable members include Dipoena, a genus of very small spiders with an anteriorly raised carapace and a wide, concave clypeus. Phoroncidia is another genus of small spiders in which the skin of the abdomen is thickened and adorned with prominent lobes and knobs (Forster & Forster 1999). Females of the Hadrotarsinae have the colulus replaced by two setae and palmate palps (Jocqué & Dippenaar-Schoeman 2007).

Characters (from Jocqué & Dippenaar-Schoeman 2007): Small to medium-sized; eight eyes present; labium not rebordered; legs with three tarsal claws, with no or few spines; tarsi IV with a row of lightly curved, serrated bristles; ecribellate; modified, aggregate silk glands present, sticky silk used to wrap prey; male palpal tibia distally widened, no paracymbium; entelegyne.

<==Theridiidae [Theridioidae]
    |--Dipoena Thorell 1869 A02
    |    |--D. aculeata (Hickman 1951) [=Trigonobothrys aculeatus] FS04
    |    |--D. blattea (Urquhart 1885) [incl. Theridium albogullatum Uruhart 1887, T. tuberculum Urquhart 1887] NS00
    |    |--D. crassiventris B06
    |    |--D. infulata (Koch & Berendt 1854) S93
    |    |--D. melanogaster SS02
    |    |--D. prona (Menge 1868) K02
    |    `--D. setosa (Hickman 1951) [=Trigonobothrys setosus] FS04
    `--+--Robertus A02
       `--+--Argyrodes A02
          `--+--Anelosimus A02
             |    |--A. eximius (Keyserling 1884) A02
             |    `--A. vittatus [=Theridion vittatum] V09
             `--+--Theridion A02
                `--Achaearanea A02

Theridiidae incertae sedis:
  Steatoda PVD10
  0--Latrodectus BS09
  `--+--Spintharus [Spintharinae] BS09
     |    `--S. flavidus BS09
     `--Phoroncidia Westwood 1835 BS09, PVD10 [Phoroncidiinae]
          |--P. americana BS09
          |--P. lygeana JD-S07
          |--P. pukeiwa (Marples 1955) PVD10
          |--P. puketoru (Marples 1955) PVD10
          `--P. quadrata (Pickard-Cambridge 1879) PVD10
  Theonoe minutissima (Cambridge 1879) K02
  Neottiura Menge 1868 S03
    |--N. bimaculata S03
    `--N. suaveolens (Simon 1879) [incl. Dipoena regia Drenski 1929] W77
  Episinus Walckenaer in Latreille 1809 PVD10
    |--E. algiricus Lucas 1846 E12
    |--E. angulatus (Blackwall 1836) BBM02
    |--E. antipodianus Pickard-Cambridge 1879 PVD10
    |--E. australis Koch & Keyserling 1890 KK90
    |--E. conifera (Urquhart 1887) [=Ariamnes conifera] NS00
    |--E. similanus Urquhart 1893 PVD10
    |--E. similitudus Urquhart 1893 PVD10
    `--E. truncatus SS02
  Enoplognatha W76
  Pholcomma Thorell 1869 [Pholcommatinae] PVD10
    |--P. antipodianum (Forster 1955) PVD10 [=Erigone antipodiana F64]
    |--P. gibbum (Westring 1851) MG03
    |--P. hickmani Forster 1964 PVD10
    `--P. turbotti (Marples 1956) PVD10
  Euryopis Menge 1868 PVD10
    |--E. argentea JVHN90
    |--E. elegans Koch & Keyserling 1890 KK90
    |--E. episinoides (Walckenaer 1847) PO08
    |--E. flavomaculata (Koch 1836) BBM02
    `--E. nana (Pickard-Cambridge 1879) PVD10 [incl. Theridium pusillulum Urquhart 1890 NS00]
  Lithyphantes S95
    |--L. anticus Berland 1939 S93
    |--L. corollatus S95
    `--L. lepidus M83
  Moneta Pickard Cambridge 1870 PVD10
    `--M. conifera (Urquhart 1887) PVD10
  Teutana grossa M83
  Phycosoma FS04
  Nesticodes Archer 1950 PVD10
    `--*N. rufipes (Lucas 1846) PVD10 (see below for synonymy)
  Lasaeola Simon 1881 MG03
    |--L. lindholmi Strand 1910 [=Dipoena lindholmi] J98
    `--L. tristis (Hahn 1833) MG03
  Paidiscura Archer 1950 MG03
    `--P. dromedaria (Simon 1880) MG03
  Chrosiothes curvispinosus P92
  Icona Forster 1955 PVD10
    |--*I. alba Forster 1955 PVD10
    `--I. drama Forster 1964 PVD10
  Paraebius Thorell 1894 T94
    `--*P. mandibularis Thorell 1894 T94
  Landana petitii T94
  Chrysso picturata (Simon 1895) HU08
  Thwaitesia L-M-HM11
  Parasteatoda Archer 1946 PVD10
    |--*P. tepidariorum (Koch 1841) PVD10
    `--P. lunata (Clerck 1757) MF11
  Crustulina Menge 1868 GGG04
    `--C. guttata RKD02
  Cephela longiseta V09
  Coleosoma floridanum V09
  Coscinida JD-S07
  Hadrotarsinae [Hadrotarsidae] JD-S07
  Proboscidula JD-S07
  Emertonella MC13
  Yagunimena MC13
  Cryptachaea Archer 1946 PVD10
    |--C. blattea (Urquhart 1886) [incl. Achaearanea acoreensis (Berland 1932)] PVD10
    `--C. verruculata (Urquhart 1886) PVD10
  Ariamnes Thorell 1968 PVD10
    |--A. colubrinus Koch in Koch & Keyserling 1890 KK90
    `--A. triangularis Urquhart 1887 PVD10 [=Argyrodes triangulatus NS00]
  Rhomphaea Koch 1872 PVD10
    `--R. urquharti (Bryant 1933) PVD10 [=Argyrodes urquhartii NS00, Ariamnes attenuatus Urquhart 1887 NS00]
  Flegia S93
    |--F. longimana Koch & Berendt 1854 S93
    `--F. succini Petrunkevitch 1942 S93
  Municeps S93
    |--M. chiapasanus Petrunkevitch 1971 P92
    |--M. minutus Petrunkevitch 1942 S93
    `--M. pulcheri (Petrunkevitch 1942) S93
  Mictodipoena stridula (Petrunkevitch 1958) S93
  Eomysmena S93
    |--E. asta Petrunkevitch 1971 P92
    |--E. baltica (Petrunkevitch 1946) S93
    |--E. bassleri (Petrunkevitch 1942) S93
    |--E. moritura Petrunkevitch 1942 S93
    `--E. stridens Petrunkevitch 1958 S93
  Nactodipoena dunbari Petrunkevitch 1942 S93
  Eodipoena S93
    |--E. consulta Petrunkevitch 1958 S93
    |--E. germanica Petrunkevitch 1958 S93
    |--E. kaestneri Petrunkevitch 1958 S93
    |--E. nielseni Petrunkevitch 1958 S93
    |--E. oculata Petrunkevitch 1942 S93
    `--E. regalis Petrunkevitch 1958 S93
  Nanomysmena S93
    |--N. aculeata Petrunkevitch 1958 S93
    |--N. gracilis Petrunkevitch 1958 S93
    `--N. munita Petrunkevitch 1958 S93
  Astodipoena crassa Petrunkevitch 1958 S93
  Cretotheridion Wunderlich 2015 W19
  Burmatheridion Wunderlich 2018 W19
  Clya P92
  Clythia P92
  Cornitis P92
  Pronepos P92
    |--P. exilis Petrunkevitch 1963 P92
    `--P. fossilis Petrunkevitch 1963 P92
  Cornutidion P92
  Craspedisia P92
  Dipoenata P92
  Stemmops P92
  Styposis P92
  Formicina mutinensis R96

*Nesticodes rufipes (Lucas 1846) PVD10 [=Theridion rufipes FF99; incl. T. bajulans Koch 1875 S99, T. borbonicum Vinson 1864 S99, T. flavoaurantiacum Sim. 1880 S99, T. longipes v. Hasselt 1882 S99, T. luteipes Cambr. 1870 S99]

*Type species of generic name indicated

REFERENCES

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[BS09] Blackledge, T. A., N. Scharff, J. A. Coddington, T. Szüts, J. W. Wenzel, C. Y. Hayashi & I. Agnarsson. 2009. Reconstructing web evolution and spider diversification in the molecular era. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 106 (13): 5229–5234.

[BBM02] Bonte, D., L. Baert & J.-P. Maelfait. 2002. Spider assemblage structure and stability in a heterogeneous coastal dune system (Belgium). Journal of Arachnology 30 (2): 331–343.

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[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.

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[SS02] Samu, F., & C. Szinetár. 2002. On the nature of agrobiont spiders. Journal of Arachnology 30 (2): 389–402.

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Last updated: 15 January 2022.