New record of cob-web spider species Steatoda albomaculata (De Geer, 1778) (Araneae: Theridiidae) from Kachchh, India with detailed distribution of Indian species of Steatoda Sundevall, 1833

Authors

  • Subhash I. Parmar Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Krantiguru Shyamji Krishna Verma Kachchh University, Bhuj, Gujarat 370001, India; Department of Zoology, R. R. Lalan College, Bhuj, Gujarat 370001, India; Department of Environment and Life Sciences, Krantiguru Shyamji Krishna Verma Kachchh University, Bhuj, Gujarat 370001, India. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6781-0399
  • Vivek U. Chauhan Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Krantiguru Shyamji Krishna Verma Kachchh University, Bhuj, Gujarat 370001, India; Department of Environment and Life Sciences, Krantiguru Shyamji Krishna Verma Kachchh University, Bhuj, Gujarat 370001, India. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5494-8919
  • Ketankumar Yogi Department of Zoology, R. R. Lalan College, Bhuj, Gujarat 370001, India; Department of Environment and Life Sciences, Krantiguru Shyamji Krishna Verma Kachchh University, Bhuj, Gujarat 370001, India. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0327-5598
  • Pranav J. Pandya Department of Zoology, R. R. Lalan College, Bhuj, Gujarat 370001, India. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7897-3799

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.10297.18.7.29364-29366

Keywords:

Araneae fauna, arid habitat, biodiversity, first record, Kachchh, taxonomy

Abstract

The species Steatoda albomaculata (De Geer, 1778) is reported for the first time from Gujarat, India. A detailed diagnosis is provided to distinguish S. albomaculata from other congeners, supported by comprehensive illustrations of the female reproductive organ and an updated map of Indian distribution of the species of the genus Steatoda Sundevall, 1833 is provided.

References

Caleb, J.T.D. & P.M. Sankaran (2026). Araneae of India. Version 2026, online at http://www.indianspiders.in. Accessed on 17.vi.2026.

De Geer, C. (1778). Des araignées. In: Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire des insectes. Tome septième. Pierre Hesselberg, Stockholm, 176–324, pl. 11–19, 38–39.

Levi, H.W. (1957). The spider genera Crustulina and Steatoda in North America, Central America, and the West Indies (Araneae, Theridiidae). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 117: 367–424.

Levy, G. & P. Amitai (1982). The cobweb spider genus Steatoda (Araneae, Theridiidae) of Israel and Sinai. Zoologica Scripta 11(1): 13–30. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1463-6409.1982.tb00515.x

Parmar, S.I., P.J. Pandya & D.A. Prajapati (2024). New distribution records of two jumping spiders of the genus Stenaelurillus Simon, 1886 (Araneae: Salticidae) from Gujarat, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 16(6): 25492–25494. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9108.16.6.25492-25494

Parmar S.I. & P.J. Pandya (2025). First record of the cobweb spider (Steatoda erigoniformis) from Gujarat. Taprobanica 14(2): 309. https://doi.org/10.47605/tapro.v14i2.385

Tripathi, R., A.K. Jangid, A.V. Sudhikumar, M. Siliwal & S. Dutta (2023). Steatoda albomaculata (De Geer, 1778) (Araneae: Theridiidae): an addition to the spider fauna of India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 119(3): 266–272. https://doi.org/10.17087/jbnhs/2022/v119/160688

WSC (2026). World Spider Catalog. Version 27. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch. Accessed on 17.vi.2026.

Zamani, A., A.A. Nadolny, S.L. Esyunin & Y.M. Marusik (2022). New data on the spider fauna of Iran (Arachnida: Araneae), part IX. Arachnology 19(Special Issue): 358–384. https://doi.org/10.13156/arac.2022.19.sp1.358

Downloads

Published

26-07-2026

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 7 (2026)

Section

Notes

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Subhash I. Parmar, Vivek U. Chauhan, Ketankumar Yogi, Pranav J. Pandya

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors own the copyright to the articles published in JoTT.  This is indicated explicitly in each publication. The authors grant permission to the publisher Wildlife Information Liaison Development (WILD) Society to publish the article in the Journal of Threatened Taxa. The authors recognize WILD as the original publisher, and to sell hard copies of the Journal and article to any buyer. JoTT is registered under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY), which allows authors to retain copyright ownership.  Under this license the authors allow anyone to download, cite, use the data, modify, reprint, copy and distribute provided the authors and source of publication are credited through appropriate citations (e.g., Son et al. (2016). Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the southeastern Truong Son Mountains, Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam. Journal of Threatened Taxa 8(7): 8953–8969. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2785.8.7.8953-8969). Users of the data do not require specific permission from the authors or the publisher.