Theridiidae Propostira

Propostira sp. "Four-tits Quadrangular"

Four-tits Quadrangular Spider

The genus Propostira includes only two described species from South Asia, one from India and the other from Sri Lanka. Both are characterised by a reddish orange and nearly box-like abdomen with black tubercles at each of the corners. Both species have a flat, longish carapace which is obtuse in front, and truncated posteriorly (like the base of a vase). In both cases, the AME are the largest eyes, and are mounted on a slight projection at the front of the carapace.

The Singapore species of Propostira resembles the species described from India by having tubercles of different shapes: the anterior pair are conical while the posterior tubercles are knob-shaped. When viewed posteriorly, the abdomen evokes the frontal view of a common "kerengga" red weaver ant (Oecophylla smaragdina), with the spinnerets simulating the ant’s jaws.

In the Singapore species, long, stiff, and forward-pointing bristles are mounted at the anterior end of the abdomen around the rear base of the pedicel. The trochanters of legs I of the Singapore species are twice the length of coxae I. while the trochanters and coxae of the remaining legs are approximately equal in length.