Mexican Hat Spider
This species was among the spiders collected in Singapore in the 19th century by Workman and subsequently described by Thorell. Workman said the species was "not uncommon in Singapore", but the spider is rarely seen locally nowadays. The female is white, and characterised by two pairs of low humps on the dorsum. The spider is more easily recognised by its web structure.
Although this species is currently placed under the genus Philoponella, the female copulatory organ is closer to those shown in the genus Uloborus, the genus in which it was originally placed by Thorell. However, unlike typical Uloborus, its tibiae I do not have fringes of long setae.
| Length | ♀ 4 mm; ♂ unknown |
| Distribution | Singapore, Malaysia (Johor), Indonesia (Sulawesi, Central Java), Brunei. |
| Habitat | Shrubs in open and sunny areas. |
| Biology | The spider builds a web that appears to be an upside-down Mexican hat: a horizontal orb web which is attached to a downward pointing conical structure. The spiky white egg sacs are arranged along the radial lines of the horizontal orb. |
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Chelicerata (Chelicerates)
Class Arachnida (Arachnids)
Order Araneae (Spiders)
Suborder Araneomorphae (Typical Spiders)
Uloborus quadri-tuberculatus (Original description ♀)
Uloborus quadrituberculatus (♀)
Kulczyński, 1908d Symbola ad faunam Aranearum Javae et Sumatrae cognoscendam: 551, pl. 23, f. 15, 24
Philoponella quadrituberculata (Transferred from Uloborus)
Lehtinen, 1967 Classification of the cribellate spiders and some allied families, with notes on the evolution of the suborder Araneomorpha: 258
* Retrieved from the World Spider Catalog.
Singapore, Malaysia (Johor), Indonesia (Sulawesi, Central Java), Brunei.