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Uloboridae Philoponella

"Philoponella" quadrituberculata (Thorell, 1892)

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.
HabitatShrubs in open and sunny areas.
BiologyThe 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.
Type LocalitySingapore.
DistributionBrunei, Indonesia (Sulawesi, Central Java), Malaysia (Johor), Singapore.

Taxonomy

Taxonomic references

  1. Uloborus quadri-tuberculatus (Original description ♀)

    Thorell, 1893 Novae species aranearum a Cel: 221

  2. Uloborus quadrituberculatus (♀)

    Kulczyński, 1908d Symbola ad faunam Aranearum Javae et Sumatrae cognoscendam: 551, pl. 23, f. 15, 24

  3. 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

Distribution of "Philoponella" quadrituberculata (Thorell, 1892)

Brunei, Indonesia (Sulawesi, Central Java), Malaysia (Johor), Singapore.

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