Theridiidae Janula

Janula batman Yoshida & Koh, 2011

Batman Red-eyed Spider

Specimens preserved in ethanol show a clearly defined reddish brown pattern around the eyes, like the mask worn by the comic hero "Batman". The "mask" is, however, not obvious in specimens whose carapace is uniformly black when the spider is alive. The abdomen is pentagonal, but may become hemispherical when the spider is gravid or well fed. It carries a pair of lateral humps each with a short spine with 2–3 other tiny thorns. There is short conical protuberance on the dark brown or purplish black dorsum, surrounded by scattered yellow patches. The pale-yellow legs are banded with black markings, most obviously at the ends of the tibiae and beginning of the metatarsi.