Theridion melanostictum O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1876

SPECIES |   ACCEPTED

LSID: urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:008517

Permalink: https://wsc.nmbe.ch/lsid/urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:008517

Described:

Distribution: Macaronesia, Mediterranean to Egypt, India, Central Asia, China, Japan. Introduced to Canada, USA, Panama, Galapagos, Poland, St. Helena, Society Is.


Type Repository Provide information
  • Holotype: College of Environment and Plant Protection, Hainan University (HANU), Haikou, China m of Enoplognatha angkora - (Barrion et al., 2013)
  • Holotype: Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ), Harvard University, Cambridge, USA m of Theridion miami - (Levi, 1980b)
  • Holotype: British Museum of Natural History (BMNH)/Natural History Museum (NHMUK), London, UK f (1978.11.1.17) of Theridion scorinum - (Roberts, 1983)
  • Paratype: Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ), Harvard University, Cambridge, USA 2f of Theridion miami - (Levi, 1980b)
  • Allotype: British Museum of Natural History (BMNH)/Natural History Museum (NHMUK), London, UK m (1978.11.1.18) of Theridion scorinum - (Roberts, 1983)
Taxonomic References
Theridion melanostictum O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1876b: 570 (Df) Original description
Theridion purcelli Benoit, 1977i: 142, f. 60a-d, 61a-b (mf; misidentified per Sherwood et al., 2024e: 1278)
Theridion miami Levi, 1980b: 336, f. 3-9 (Dmf) [urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:063639]
Theridion melanostictum Levy & Amitai, 1982a: 99, f. 32-37 (Dmf)
Theridion scorinum Roberts, 1983: 233, f. 66-74 (Dmf) [urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:008677]
Theridion melanostictum Levy, 1985a: 114 (S of Theridion miami)
Theridion melanostictum Wunderlich, 1987a: 219, f. 577-579 (mf)
Theridion melanostictum Wunderlich, 1992a: 419, f. 605 (f)
Theridion ogasawarense Yoshida, 1993e: 111, f. 6-9 (Dmf) [urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:063641]
Theridion melanostictum Knoflach, 1998: 589, f. 48, 54, 55c (mf)
Theridion melanostictum Zhu, 1998: 148, f. 90A-E (mf)
Theridion melanostictum Levy, 1998b: 192, f. 364-369 (mf)
Theridion melanostictum Song, Zhu & Chen, 1999: 138, f. 76E-F, K-L (mf)
Theridion melanostictum Yoshida, 1999: 129 (S of Theridion ogasawarense)
Theridion melanostictum Yoshida, 2003a: 75, f. 178-181 (mf, S of Theridion scorinum)
Theridion melanostictum Saaristo, 2006: 82, f. 93-96 (mf)
Theridion melanostictum Paquin, Dupérré & Labelle, 2008: 222, f. 4A-G (mf)
Theridion melanostictum Yoshida, 2009b: 370, f. 131-132 (mf)
Theridion melanostictum Saaristo, 2010: 271, f. 37.138-140 (mf)
Theridion melanostictum Le Peru, 2011: 480, f. 830 (mf)
Theridion melanostictum Ono, 2011b: 452, f. 51-55 (mf)
Theridion melanostictum Yin et al., 2012: 412, f. 182a-e (mf)
Theridion melanostictum Dierkens & Charlat, 2013: 70, f. 12 (m)
Enoplognatha angkora Barrion, Barrion-Dupo & Heong in Barrion et al., 2013: 38, f. 43A-D (Dm) [urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:048455]
Theridion melanostictum Bodkhe, Manthen & Uniyal, 2015: 112, f. 1-11 (m)
Theridion melanostictum Déjean, 2015a: 4, f. 1-3 (f)
Theridion melanostictum Baert, Van Keer & Wauters, 2016: 13, f. 1-2 (mf)
Theridion melanostictum Rozwałka, Dawidowicz & Wawer, 2017: 63, f. 5-6 (m)
Theridion melanostictum El-Hennawy, 2017b: 206, f. 58a (m)
Theridion melanostictum Prasad et al., 2019: 113, f. 22-23 (f)
Theridion melanostictum Zamani, Nadolny & Dolejš, 2022: 566, f. 8E (m)
Theridion melanostictum Suzuki, 2022b: 187, f. 1-6 (mf)
Theridion melanostictum Abdel-Ghani, Hassan & Sallam, 2023: 36, f. 25 (f)
Theridion melanostictum Baert et al., 2023: 33, f. 127A-C (mf)
Theridion melanostictum Lin et al., 2023a: 522 (S of Enoplognatha angkora)
Theridion melanostictum Sherwood et al., 2024e: 1278, f. 72 (f)
Theridion melanostictum Murcia-Moreno & Gálvez, 2025: 3, f. 4A-D (mf)
Theridion melanostictum Hino, Suzuki & Megumi, 2025: 108, f. 2O-S (mf)
References

Abdel-Ghani, D. M., Hassan, M. F. & Sallam, G. M. E. (2023). Spiders as a bio-agent factor in a mango greenhouse at Giza Governorate, Egypt. Serket 20(1): 26-38. -- Show included taxa

Baert, L., Van Keer, J. & Wauters, N. (2016). The spider Theridion melanostictum (Araneae, Theridiidae), a recent introduction to Galapagos? Galapagos Research 68: 13-14. -- Show included taxa

Baert, L., Maelfait, J.-P., Desender, K., Hendrickx, F., Dekoninck, W., Berthet, M., Bouckaert, K., Caudron, J. & Leclercq, M. (2023). Updated checklist, origin, distribution, literature and genital drawings of the spiders of the Galápagos Islands. Belgian Journal of Entomology 142: 1-188. [[includes figs of 5 undescribed species]] -- Show included taxa

Barrion, A. T., Barrion-Dupo, A. L. A., Catindig, J. L. A., Villarreal M., O., Cai, D., Yuan, Q. H. & Heong, K. L. (2013). New species of spiders (Araneae) from Hainan Island, China. UPLB Museum Publications in Natural History 3: 1-103. doi: 10.5281/zenodo.269136 -- Show included taxa

Benoit, P. L. G. (1977i). Fam. Theridiidae. In: La faune terrestre de l'île de Sainte-Hélène IV. Annales, Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Sciences zoologiques (Zool.-Ser. 8°) 220: 131-152. -- Show included taxa

Bodkhe, A. K., Manthen, S. V. & Uniyal, V. P. (2015). First record of Theridion melanostictum O.P.-Cambridge, 1876 (Araneae: Theridiidae) from India. Serket 14(3): 111-115. -- Show included taxa

Déjean, S. (2015a). Theridion melanostictum O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1876 (Araneae, Theridiidae) nouveau pour la faune de France. Revue Arachnologique (2) 2: 4-5. -- Show included taxa

Dierkens, M. & Charlat, S. (2013). Contribution à la connaissance des araignées des îles de la Société (Polynésie française). Revue Arachnologique 17: 63-81. -- Show included taxa

El-Hennawy, H. K. (2017b). Illustrated key to spider families of Egypt (Arachnida: Araneae). Serket 15(4): 184-208. -- Show included taxa

Hino, Y., Suzuki, Y. & Megumi, K. (2025). A list of spiders collected from the mainland of Kagoshima, Japan. Kishidaia 126: 105-117. -- Show included taxa

Knoflach, B. (1998). Mating in Theridion varians Hahn and related species (Araneae: Theridiidae). Journal of Natural History 32(4): 545-604. doi: 10.1080/00222939800770301 -- Show included taxa

Le Peru, B. (2011). The spiders of Europe, a synthesis of data: Volume 1 Atypidae to Theridiidae. Mémoires de la Société Linnéenne de Lyon 2: 1-522. -- Show included taxa

Levi, H. W. (1980b). Two new spiders of the genera Theridion and Achaearanea from North America. Transactions of the American Microscopical Society 99(3): 334-337. doi: 10.2307/3226010 -- Show included taxa

Levy, G. & Amitai, P. (1982a). The comb-footed spider genera Theridion, Achaearanea and Anelosimus of Israel (Araneae: Theridiidae). Journal of Zoology, London 196(1): 81-131. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1982.tb03496.x -- Show included taxa

Levy, G. (1985a). Spiders of the genera Episinus, Argyrodes and Coscinida from Israel, with additional notes on Theridion (Araneae: Theridiidae). Journal of Zoology, London (A) 207: 87-123. -- Show included taxa

Levy, G. (1998b). Araneae: Theridiidae. Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Jerusalem, 228 pp. -- Show included taxa

Lin, Y. J., Wu, L. B., Cai, D. C., Li, S. Q., Barrion, A. T. & Heong, K. L. (2023a). Review of 43 spider species from Hainan Island, China (Arachnida, Araneae). Zootaxa 5351(5): 501-533. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5351.5.1 -- Show included taxa

Murcia-Moreno, D. & Gálvez, D. (2025). Introduced spiders in Panama: species distributions and new records. Biology 14(4): 1-17. doi: 10.3390/biology14010004 -- Show included taxa

Ono, H. (2011b). Spiders (Arachnida, Araneae) of the Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Memoirs of the National Museum of Nature and Science Tokyo 47: 435-470. -- Show included taxa

Paquin, P., Dupérré, N. & Labelle, S. (2008). Introduced spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) in an artificial ecosystem in eastern Canada. Entomological News 119: 217-226. -- Show included taxa

Pickard-Cambridge, O. (1876b). Catalogue of a collection of spiders made in Egypt, with descriptions of new species and characters of a new genus. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 44(3): 541-630, pl. 58-60. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1876.tb02595.x -- Show included taxa

Prasad, P., Tyagi, K., Caleb, J. T. D. & Kumar, V. (2019). A new species of the cob web spider genus Theridion from India (Araneae: Theridiidae). Ecologica Montenegrina 26: 108-117. doi: 10.37828/em.2019.26.7 -- Show included taxa

Roberts, M. J. (1983). Spiders of the families Theridiidae, Tetragnathidae and Araneidae (Arachnida: Araneae) from Aldabra atoll. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 77(3): 217-291. doi: 10.1111/j.1096-3642.1983.tb00099.x -- Show included taxa

Rozwałka, R., Dawidowicz, A. & Wawer, W. (2017). Three alien spider species (Araneae: Theridiidae) newly found in Poland. Fragmenta Faunistica 60(1): 61-66. doi: 10.3161/00159301FF2017.60.1.061 -- Show included taxa

Saaristo, M. I. (2006). Theridiid or cobweb spiders of the granitic Seychelles islands (Araneae, Theridiidae). Phelsuma 14: 49-89. -- Show included taxa

Saaristo, M. I. (2010). Araneae. Siri Scientific Press, Manchester, pp. 8-306. -- Show included taxa

Sherwood, D., Henrard, A., Jocqué, R., Fowler, L., Marusik, Y. M., Maddison, W., Harvey, M. S., Hormiga, G., Rheims, C. A., Piacentini, L. N., Peters, M., Stevens, N., Joshua, D., Scipio-O’Dean, C. J., Ellick, G., Wilkins, V., Ashmole, M. & Ashmole, P. (2024e). Annotated checklist of the spiders of Saint Helena, with new records, descriptions of unknown sexes, new and restored genera, and two new species (Araneae: Araneomorphae). Arachnology 19(9): 1218-1291. doi: 10.13156/arac.2024.19.9.1218 -- Show included taxa

Song, D. X., Zhu, M. S. & Chen, J. (1999). The spiders of China. Hebei Science and Technology Publishing House Shijiazhuang, 640 pp. -- Show included taxa

Suzuki, Y. (2022b). [A list of spiders collected from Okinawa islands (Okinawa-jima, Sesoko-jima, Ikê-jima, Yabuchi-jima and Kume-jima islands), Japan]. Kishidaia 120: 186-196. -- Show included taxa

Wunderlich, J. (1987a). Die Spinnen der Kanarischen Inseln und Madeiras: Adaptive Radiation, Biogeographie, Revisionen und Neubeschreibungen. Triops Langen, 435 pp. -- Show included taxa

Wunderlich, J. (1992a). Die Spinnen-Fauna der Makaronesischen Inseln: Taxonomie, Ökologie, Biogeographie und Evolution. Beiträge zur Araneologie 1: 1-619. -- Show included taxa

Yin, C. M., Peng, X. J., Yan, H. M., Bao, Y. H., Xu, X., Tang, G., Zhou, Q. S. & Liu, P. (2012). Fauna Hunan: Araneae in Hunan, China. Hunan Science and Technology Press Changsha, 1590 pp. -- Show included taxa

Yoshida, H. (1993e). Two new species of the genus Theridion (Araneae: Theridiidae) from the Yaeyama Islands and Haha-jima Island of the Bonin Islands, Japan. Acta Arachnologica 42(2): 109-113. doi: 10.2476/asjaa.42.109 -- Show included taxa

Yoshida, H. (1999). Two species of the genus Theridion (Araneae: Theridiidae) from Japan. Acta Arachnologica 48(2): 127-130. doi: 10.2476/asjaa.48.127 -- Show included taxa

Yoshida, H. (2003a). The spider family Theridiidae (Arachnida: Araneae) from Japan. Arachnological Society of Japan, 224 pp. -- Show included taxa

Yoshida, H. (2009b). Uloboridae, Theridiidae, Ctenidae. Tokai University Press, Kanagawa, pp. 142-147, 356-393, 467-468. -- Show included taxa

Zamani, A., Nadolny, A. A. & Dolejš, P. (2022). New data on the spider fauna of Iran (Arachnida: Araneae), part X. Arachnology 19(2): 551-573. doi: 10.13156/arac.2022.19.2.551 -- Show included taxa

Zhu, M. S. (1998). Fauna Sinica: Arachnida: Araneae: Theridiidae. Science Press, Beijing, 436 pp. -- Show included taxa

External Resource References

* Disclaimer
As External Resources, the World Spider Catalog links here to species pages of other databases. They may contain further information for the given species. The databases, listed as External Resources, however, are not managed by World Spider Catalog and the information given there is not necessarily in agreement with the World Spider Catalog. All responsibility for such data is with the external database.

Nentwig, W., Blick, T., Bosmans, R., Kropf, C., Stäubli, A.: Spiders of Europe. www.araneae.nmbe.ch. Version 01.2026. doi: 10.24436/1

GBIF.org (2026). GBIF Home Page (via GBIF API). Available from: https://www.gbif.org [8 January 2026]

Edit History
Date Type Reference Old value Comment
2025-07-06 New taxonomic reference entry Hino, Suzuki & Megumi, 2025
2024-12-30 New taxonomic reference entry Murcia-Moreno & Gálvez, 2025
2024-12-30 Species distribution update Murcia-Moreno & Gálvez, 2025 Old value
2024-12-22 New taxonomic reference entry Baert et al., 2023
2024-11-04 Taxonomic reference added from other taxon Old value
2024-11-04 New taxonomic reference entry Sherwood et al., 2024e
2024-11-04 Species distribution update Sherwood et al., 2024e Old value
2023-12-28 New taxonomic reference entry Abdel-Ghani, Hassan & Sallam, 2023
2023-09-30 New taxonomic reference entry Lin et al., 2023a
2023-09-30 Species synonymy Lin et al., 2023a Theridion angkora synonymized with Theridion melanostictum
2022-07-11 New taxonomic reference entry Zamani, Nadolny & Dolejš, 2022
2022-04-13 New taxonomic reference entry Suzuki, 2022b
2019-12-29 New taxonomic reference entry Prasad et al., 2019
2017-12-13 New taxonomic reference entry El-Hennawy, 2017b
2017-11-15 New taxonomic reference entry Rozwałka, Dawidowicz & Wawer, 2017
2017-11-15 Species distribution update Rozwałka, Dawidowicz & Wawer, 2017 Old value
2016-12-19 New taxonomic reference entry Baert, Van Keer & Wauters, 2016
2016-12-19 Species distribution update Baert, Van Keer & Wauters, 2016 Old value
2015-10-12 New taxonomic reference entry Déjean, 2015a
2015-06-10 New taxonomic reference entry Bodkhe, Manthen & Uniyal, 2015
2015-06-10 Species distribution update Bodkhe, Manthen & Uniyal, 2015 Old value

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