Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 5810 No. 1: 14 May 2026
Type: Article
Published: 2026-05-14
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5810.1.6
Page range: 143-156
Abstract views: 100
PDF downloaded: 6

A new genus of the family Theridiidae Sundevall, 1833 (Araneae: Theridiidae) from Asia, with description of a new species

Arachnid Resource Centre of Hubei Province & Hubei Key Laboratory of Regional Development and Environmental Response; Faculty of Resources and Environmental Science; Hubei University; Wuhan 430062; China.
Arachnid Resource Centre of Hubei Province & Hubei Key Laboratory of Regional Development and Environmental Response; Faculty of Resources and Environmental Science; Hubei University; Wuhan 430062; China.; Centre for Behavioural Ecology and Evolution; School of Life Sciences; Hubei University; Wuhan 430062; China.
Arachnid Resource Centre of Hubei Province & Hubei Key Laboratory of Regional Development and Environmental Response; Faculty of Resources and Environmental Science; Hubei University; Wuhan 430062; China.; Centre for Behavioural Ecology and Evolution; School of Life Sciences; Hubei University; Wuhan 430062; China.; College of Life Sciences; Hunan Normal University; Changsha 410081; China.
Araneae biodiversity cobweb spiders morphology new combination new species taxonomy

Abstract

Chrosiothes Simon, 1894 (Spintharinae) is a genus of theridiid spiders including 25 American and three Asian species. A detailed comparation shows that the Asian species differ markedly from American Chrosiothes, instead bearing several synapomorphies of the subfamily Theridiinae Sundevall, 1833, in addition to some unusual apomorphic characteristics. Based on these observations, a new genus, Loricatheridion gen. nov., is established to accommodate the three Asian “Chrosiothes” species, and a new species from Hubei, China that is described herein.

 

References

  1. Agnarsson, I. (2004) Morphological phylogeny of cobweb spiders and their relatives (Araneae, Araneoidea, Theridiidae). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 141 (4), 447–626. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-3642.2004.00120.x
  2. Agnarsson, I., Coddington, J.A. & Knoflach, B. (2007) Morphology and evolution of cobweb spider male genitalia (Araneae, Theridiidae). The Journal of Arachnology, 35 (2), 334–395. https://doi.org/10.1636/SH-06-36.1
  3. Bösenberg, W. & Strand, E. (1906) Japanische Spinnen. Abhandlungen der Senckenbergischen Naturforschenden Gesellschaft, 30, 93–422.
  4. Dhiya1397969521ulhaq, N.U., Buchori, D., Hidayat, P., Scheu, S. & Drescher, J. (2025) Two new species and three new records of the cobweb spider Platnickina (Araneae, Theridiidae) from Sumatra. Evolutionary Systematics, 9, 203–220. https://doi.org/10.3897/evolsyst.9.162623
  5. Huang, G.L., Liu, J. & Hu, C.H. (2025) Taxonomic notes of the cobweb spider genus Platnickina Koçak & Kemal, 2008 (Araneae, Theridiidae, Theridiinae), with descriptions of two new species from southern China. ZooKeys, 1250, 135–154. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1250.158643
  6. Knoflach, B., Rollard, C. & Thaler, K. (2009) Notes on Mediterranean Theridiidae (Araneae) – II. ZooKeys, 16, 227–264. https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.16.237
  7. Levi, H.W. (1954) Spiders of the new genus Theridiotis (Araneae: Theridiidae). Transactions of the American Microscopical Society, 73 (2), 177–189. https://doi.org/10.2307/3223754
  8. Levi, H.W. & Levi, L.R. (1962) The genera of the spider family Theridiidae. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 127 (1), 1–71, pls. 1–14.
  9. Liu, J., May-Collado, J., Pekár, S. & Agnarsson, I. (2016) A revised and dated phylogeny of cobweb spiders (Araneae, Araneoidea, Theridiidae): A predatory Cretaceous lineage diversifying in the era of the ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 94, 658–675. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2015.09.023
  10. World Spider Catalog. (2026) World Spider Catalog. Version 27. Natural History Museum Bern. Available from: http://wsc.nmbe.ch (accessed 5 May 2026) https://doi.org/10.24436/2
  11. Wunderlich, J. (2008) On extant and fossil (Eocene) European comb-footed spiders (Araneae: Theridiidae), with notes on their subfamilies, and with descriptions of new taxa. Beiträge zur Araneologie, 5, 140–469 + 792–794 + 796–800 + 803 + 819–859.
  12. Yoshida, H. (1979) Notes on the Japanese species of the genus Phoroncidia (Araneae: Theridiidae). Acta Arachnologica, 28 (2), 45–51. https://doi.org/10.2476/asjaa.28.45
  13. Yoshida, H. (1982) On the position of a Japanese species 1396984945Theridion subabides1396986481 (Araneae, Theridiidae). Atypus, 81, 21–22.
  14. Yoshida, H. (2001) A revision of the Japanese genera and species of the subfamily Theridiinae (Araneae: Theridiidae). Acta Arachnologica, 50 (2), 157–181. https://doi.org/10.2476/asjaa.50.157
  15. Yoshida, H. (2009) Uloboridae, Theridiidae, Ctenidae. In: Ono, H. (Ed.), The spiders of Japan with keys to the families and genera and illustrations of the species. Tokai University Press, Kanagawa, pp. 142–147 + 356–393 + 467–468.
  16. Yoshida, H., Tso, I.M. & Severinghaus, L.L. (2000) The spider family Theridiidae (Arachnida: Araneae) from Orchid Island, Taiwan: Descriptions of six new and one newly recorded species. Zoological Studies, 39, 123–132.
  17. Zhu, M.S. (1998) Fauna Sinica: Arachnida: Araneae: Theridiidae. Science Press, Beijing, 436 pp.
  18. Zhu, M.S. & Zhang, B.S. (2011) Spider Fauna of Henan: Arachnida: Araneae. Science Press, Beijing, 558 pp.

How to Cite

Fang, Y., Liu, J. & Hu, C. (2026) A new genus of the family Theridiidae Sundevall, 1833 (Araneae: Theridiidae) from Asia, with description of a new species. Zootaxa, 5810 (1), 143–156. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5810.1.6