When Tarantula Venom Comes from a Misnamed Spider: The Importance of Taxonomic Accuracy in Theraphosid Toxinology

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  When Tarantula Venom Comes from a Misnamed Spider: The Importance of Taxonomic Accuracy in Theraphosid Toxinology I am very happy to share my most recent publication in Toxicon. This is a particularly meaningful publication for me because it brings together two areas that have become an important part of my work and personal interests: tarantulas and toxinology. At first glance, taxonomy and venom research may seem like two very different fields. In reality, they are closely connected. Before we can properly study the venom of a spider, we need to know which spider we are actually studying. Why the Name Matters A scientific name is much more than a label attached to an animal. It connects that animal to everything we report about it, including its biology, distribution, behavior, venom, toxins, and even its potential medical importance. When a tarantula is incorrectly identified, or when an outdated name continues to be used without considering changes in taxonomy, the problem ca...

On the discovery of a new polymorphic Happy-Face Spider (Araneae, Theridiidae) from the Western Himalayas, India, with notes on its natural history

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On the discovery of a new polymorphic Happy-Face Spider (Araneae, Theridiidae) from the Western Himalayas, India, with notes on its natural history

Abstract

A new species of Theridion is reported here from Uttarakhand, India which resembles and exhibits polymorphism like the Happy-face spiders reported from the Hawaiian Islands, Theridion grallator. The species is polymorphic in both sexes and exhibits patterns of a smiling face with dots in colours of red, black and white arranged differently. 32 different morphs of the species have been reported here which have been collected from three different locations in the northwestern state of India, Uttarakhand. This Theridion species also builds webs to hang upside down like the other polymorphic spiders T. californicum and T. grallator. The phylogenetic position of the species is also reported here which was compared against some of the Asian and Neotropical species across the world using the COI marker. A genetic variation of around 8.5% is observed from the Hawaiian Happy-face spider which indicates a separately evolved species in Asia where several morphs have been found. Despite moderate overall divergence, T. himalayana appears to be phylogenetically isolated from both its Palearctic and Nearctic congeners. This supports its distinctiveness within the genus and raises broader questions about lineage dispersal, parallel evolution of colour polymorphism and independent evolution of species in montane forests. A dichotomous key to the Theridion species described form India is also presented here.

Tripathy A, Priyadarshini D (2026) On the discovery of a new polymorphic Happy-Face Spider (Araneae, Theridiidae) from the Western Himalayas, India, with notes on its natural history. Evolutionary Systematics 10(1): 63-84. https://doi.org/10.3897/evolsyst.10.174338