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| The spider families of Britain and Ireland |
~Araneidae
Orb Weavers.
Morphology. The adult spiders 1.5–2.5 mm long; decidedly plump-bodied; decidedly short-legged; with eight eyes. The eyes in two horizontal rows of 4, or in an oval cluster; all clear and glassy. The maxillae about as long as broad. The palpal organs of the male of complex structure and enclosed by the specialized, hollowed tarsal segment (the cymbium). The female palps without a claw. The first two pairs of legs without the spines characteristic of Mimetidae. Metatarsus IV of the females without a calamistrum. Tarsal claws 3. Tarsus IV without a ventral ‘comb’. The abdomen conspicuously patterned dorsally (darkly, on the silvery background). The abdomen of the females without a cribellum. The reproductive openings of the females associated with an epigyne.
The adults making snare-webs; constructing orb webs (these horizontal and umbrella shaped, in damp marsh vegetation).
Representation in Britain and Ireland. 1 species in Britain; in the genus Theridiosoma (T. gemmosum). Widespread (but restricted to southern England, southern Wales, and southern Ireland).
Comments. The globular abdomen of T. gemmosum is marked with silver in both sexes.
We advise against extracting comparative information from the descriptions. This is much more easily achieved using the DELTA data files or the interactive key, which allows access to the character list, illustrations, full and partial descriptions, diagnostic descriptions, differences and similarities between taxa, lists of taxa exhibiting or lacking specified attributes, and distributions of character states within any set of taxa. See also Guidelines for using data taken from Web publications.
Cite this publication as: ‘Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M.J. 2003 onwards. The spider families of Britain and Ireland. Version: 5th August 2019. delta-intkey.com’.