Theridion hemerobium Simon 1914

Theridion hemerobium Simon, 1914 Figs 57-58 Material examined. Greece: Peloponnesos, Nafplio, Argos, brookside, 1 ♂ (CTh), 22.6.2000, leg. J. Buchar. Description, identification. Differentiation from the closely related, larger T. pictum see Levi (1957a, sub T. berkeleyi), Blick et al. (1993), Bosmans et al. (1994), Roberts (1995), Nentwig et al. (2003), Almquist (2005). For additional citations and synonyms see Platnick (2008). Male palp (Figs 57-58). Palp less elongated and considerably smaller than in T. pictum, length of tibia and tarsus ca. 0.4 mm (versus ca. 0.7 in T. pictum). Tibia rather broad at base as compared with distal rim, about 0.7 of distal width in ventral view, thus little constricted. Shape of conductor and median apophysis diagnostic. Prolateral tip of median apophysis closer to tip of conductor than in T. pictum. Embolus short, distal part 0.12 mm long (T. pictum 0.3 mm, see Knoflach 1998). Distribution. Theridion hemerobium is widespread in North America (Levi 1957a) and Europe (Bosmans et al. 1994; Anthes 2000). From Greece it was hitherto not known (Bosmans et al. 1994; Anthes 2000; Bosmans and Chatzaki 2005). The present finding bridges a distribution gap in southeast Europe, though its occurrence is not surprising. A further record comes from Bulgaria (Deltshev 1992); the easternmost one from Israel (Levy 1998). Interestingly, the species has so far not been mentioned from Russia (Mikhailov 1997, 1998). T. hemerobium occurs stenotopically on the vegetation in wetlands and on banks of lakes, ponds and running water (Anthes 2000) and also colonises human-made structures in these habitats, e.g. bridges and fences (Jones 1994; Daws 2003).
Published as part of Knoflach, Barbara, Rollard, Christine & Thaler, Konrad, 2009, Notes on Mediterranean Theridiidae (Araneae) ��� II, pp. 227-264 in ZooKeys 16 (16) on page 249, DOI: 10.3897/zookeys.16.237, http://zenodo.org/record/576484
{"references":["Simon E (1914) Les Arachnides de France 6 (1). Roret, Paris, 308 pp.","Levi HW (1957 a) The spider genera Enoplognatha, Theridion, and Paidisca in America north of Mexico (Araneae, Theridiidae). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 112: 1 - 124.","Blick T, Sammorey T, Martin D (1993) Spinnenaufsammlungen im NSG \" Grosser Schwerin mit Steinhorn \" (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), mit Anmerkungen zu Tetragnatha reimoseri (syn. Eucta kaestneri), Theridion hemerobius und Philodromus praedatus (Araneae). Arachnologische Mitteilungen 6: 26 - 33.","Bosmans R, Vanuytven H, van Keer J (1994) On two poorly known Theridion species, recently collected in Belgium for the first time (Araneae: Theridiidae). Bulletin of the British arachnological Society 9: 236 - 240.","Roberts MJ (1995) Spiders of Britain and Northern Europe. Collins Field Guide. HarperCollins Publishers, Bath, 383 pp.","Nentwig W, Hanggi A, Kropf C, Blick T (2003) Spinnen Mittteleuropas - Bestimmungsschlussel. Version 8.12. 2003. Online: http: // www. araneae. unibe. ch /","Almquist S (2005) Swedish Araneae, part 1 - families Atypidae to Hahniidae (Linyphiidae excluded). Insect Systematics and Evolution, Supplement 62: 1 - 284.","Platnick NI (2008) The world spider catalogue, Version 9.5, American Museum of Natural History. - online at: http: // research. amnh. org / entomology / spiders / catalog / INTRO 1. html (Theridiidae updated 13. Dec. 2008).","Knoflach B (1998) Mating in Theridion varians Hahn and related species (Araneae: Theridiidae). Journal of Natural History 32: 545 - 604.","Anthes N (2000) Verbreitung und okologische Charakterisierung der Kugelspinne Theridion hemerobium Simon, 1914 (Araneae: Theridiidae) in Europa. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 20: 43 - 55.","Bosmans R, Chatzaki M (2005) A catalogue of the spiders of Greece. A critical review of all spider species cited from Greece with their localities. Arachnological Contributions, Newsletter of the Belgian Arachnological Society 20 (2, supplement): 1 - 124.","Deltshev C (1992) A critical review of family Theridiidae (Araneae) in Bulgaria. Acta zoologica bulgarica 43: 13 - 21.","Levy G (1998) Fauna Palaestina. Arachnida III. Araneae: Theridiidae. Jerusalem: The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 227 pp.","Mikhailov KG (1997) Catalogue of the spiders of the territories of the former Soviet Union (Arachnida, Aranei). Zoological Museum of the Moscow State University, Moscow, 1 - 416.","Mikhailov KG (1998) Catalogue of the spiders (Arachnida, Aranei) of the territories of the former Soviet Union. Addendum 1. Zoological Museum of the Moscow State University, Moscow, 1 - 48.","Jones D (1994) Theridion hemerobius Simon, 1914: New to Britain. Newsletter of the British Arachnological Society 71: 5.","Daws J (2003) Theridion hemerobium Simon, 1914: Are you looking in the right places? Newsletterof the British Arachnological Society 98 (S. R. S. News 47): 10."]}