Theridula is a genus of cobweb spiders, found in many (mostly tropical) parts of the world. Species vary in size from 1 to 3.5 mm in length.[1]

Theridula
Female Theridula gonygaster from Okinawa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Theridiidae
Genus: Theridula
Emerton, 1882
Species

See text

Diversity
19 species
Theridula angula moving from one tree to another carrying the egg sac

In females, the abdomen is wider than long, with a hump or horn on each side, and sometimes a posterior median horn.[2][3] The pedipalp in males is simple, lacking a conductor or theridioid tegular apophysis.[4][5]

Theridula spiders are frequently found on bushes or tall grass where they rest on the undersides of leaves near their webs.

Species

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References

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  1. ^ Levi, Herbert W. (October 1954). "The Spider Genus Theridula in North and Central America and the West Indies (Araneae: Theridiidae)". Transcriptions of American Microscopical Society. 73 (4). American Microscopical Society: 331–343. doi:10.2307/3223578. JSTOR 3223578.
  2. ^ Comstock, John Henry (1975) [First published 1912]. The Spider Book. Cornell University Press. pp. 354–355.
  3. ^ Archer, Allan F. (1946). "The Theridiidae or Comb-footed Spiders of Alabama". Museum Papers of the Alabama Museum of Natural History (22): 31.
  4. ^ Levi, Herbert W. (1966). "American Spider Genera Theridula and Paratheridula (Araneae: Theridiidae)". Psyche: A Journal of Entomology. 73 (2): 123–130. doi:10.1155/1966/12793.
  5. ^ Agnarsson, Ingi; Jonathan A. Coddington; Barbara Knoflach (2007). "Morphology and Evolution of Cobweb Spider Male Genitalia (Araneae, Theridiidae)". The Journal of Arachnology. 35 (2): 334–395. doi:10.1636/SH-06-36.1. S2CID 43502439.