Theridiidae  Sundevall, 1833 / Cryptachaea  Archer, 1946   3 species

Cryptachaea riparia (Blackwall, 1834)

Description
Male

Conductor bluntly rounded distally. Prosoma very dark, red-brown to black. Sternum very dark, red-brown to black. Chelicerae very dark, red-brown to black. Legs yellowish, distinctly annulated with brown-black. Opisthosoma brown with numerous dark and almost white spots, sometimes also transverse stripes, ventrally unicoloured dark brown.

Body length male: 3.0-4.0 mm
Female

Epigyne posteriorly with chitinous bulge. 

Body length female: 3.0-4.0 mm
Additional information

Near the ground in forest edges exposed to the sun, walls, rocks, etc.

Distribution
  Presence
  No data
Global distribution (WSC 2026): Europe, Turkey, Caucasus, Russia (Europe to Far East), China, Korea, Japan
Phenology
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
 male  female
Figures
Distribution List

"No references" does not mean that the species does not occur in this country, but that we have not yet inserted the reference for it. We are working on it.

Austria   (Knoflach & Thaler, 1998) ||| Azerbaijan   (Otto, 2022) ||| Belarus   (Ivanov, 2013) ||| Belgium   (Bosmans & Van Keer, 2017) ||| Bulgaria   (Naumova et al., 2021) ||| Czechia   (Růžička & Řezáč, 2022a) ||| Denmark   (Scharff & Gudik-Sørensen, 2006) ||| Estonia   (Vilbaste, 1987) ||| Finland   (Koponen et al., 2016) ||| France   (Le Peru, 2007) ||| Georgia   (Otto, 2022) ||| Germany   (Blick et al., 2016) ||| Hungary   (Samu & Szinetár, 1999) ||| Ireland   (Lavery, 2019) ||| Italy   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| Italy / Sardinia   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| Latvia   (Cera, 2018) ||| Liechtenstein   (Arnold, 2001) ||| Lithuania   (Biteniekytė & Rėlys, 2012) ||| Netherlands   (van Helsdingen, 2025a) ||| Norway   (Aakra & Hauge, 2003) ||| Poland   (Rozwałka & Stanska, 2008) ||| Portugal   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Romania   (Weiss & Petrișor, 1999) ||| Russia, Central   (Ponomarev, 2022) ||| Russia, Eastern   (Esyunin & Efimik, 1996a) ||| Russia, Southern   (Otto, 2022; Ponomarev, 2022) ||| Russia, Western   (no references) ||| Serbia   (Grbić et al., 2021) ||| Slovakia   (Gajdoš et al., 1999) ||| Slovenia   (Kostanjšek & Kuntner, 2015) ||| Spain   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Sweden   (Kronestedt, 2001) ||| Switzerland   (Maurer & Hänggi, 1990) ||| Turkey (Asia)   (Danışman et al., 2025a) ||| Ukraine   (Polchaninova & Prokopenko, 2019) ||| United Kingdom   (Lavery, 2019) |||
References

Aakra K, Hauge E (2003) Checklist of Norwegian spiders (Arachnida: Araneae), including Svalbard and Jan Mayen. Norwegian Journal of Entomology 50: 109-129 pdf

Almquist S (2006) Swedish Araneae, part 1 – families Atypidae to Hahniidae (Linyphiidae excluded). Insect Systematics & Evolution, Supplement 62(2005): 1-284 pdf

Arnold K (2001) Beitrag zur Spinnenfauna (Arachnida, Araneae) des Fürstentums Liechtenstein. Berichte der Botanisch-Zoologischen Gesellschaft Liechtenstein-Sargans-Werdenberg 28: 211-244 pdf

Biteniekytė M, Rėlys V (2012) The checklist of Lithuanian spiders (Arachnida: Araneae). Biologija 57: 148-158 pdf

Blick T, Finch O-D, Harms K H, Kiechle J, Kielhorn K-H , Kreuels M, Malten A, Martin D, Muster C, Nährig D, Platen R, Rödel I, Scheidler M, Staudt A, Stumpf H, Tolke D (2016) Rote Liste und Gesamtartenliste der Spinnen (Arachnida: Araneae) Deutschlands. 3. Fassung, Stand April 2008, einzelne Änderungen und Nachträge bis August 2015. Naturschutz und Biologische Vielfalt 70/4: 383-510 pdf

Bosmans R, Van Keer K (2017) Een herziene soortenlijst van de Belgische spinnen (Araneae). Nieuwsbrief van de Belgische Arachnologische Vereniging 32: 39-69 pdf

Branco V V, Morano E, Cardoso P (2019) An update to the Iberian spider checklist (Araneae). Zootaxa 4614: 201-254 pdf

Cera I (2018) The checklist of Latvian spiders (Arachnida: Araneae). Environmental and Experimental Biology 16: 139-152 pdf

Danışman T, Kunt K B, Özkütük R S, Coşar İ (2025a) The checklist of the spiders of Turkey. Version 2025 [last updated 01 December 2025], online at http://www.spidersofturkey.info pdf

Esyunin S L, Efimik V E (1996a) Catalogue of the spiders (Arachnida, Aranei) of the Urals. KMK Scientific Press, Moscow, 228 pp. pdf

Gajdoš P, Svatoň J, Sloboda J (1999) Katalóg pavúkov Slovenska. Catalogue of Slovakian spiders. Ústav kr. ekol. SAV, Bratislava, 337 pp.

Grbić G, Hänggi A, Krnjajić S (2021) Spiders (Araneae) of Subotica Sandland (Serbia): additional arguments in environmental protection. Acta Zoologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 67: 15-61 pdf

Helsdingen P J van (2025a) Catalogus van de Nederlandse spinnen. Versie 2025.1. 249 pp. pdf

Isaia M, Tolve M, Pantini P (2025) Araneae.it: 2.0: the new updated version of the digital catalog of the Italian spiders and other arachnids (Arachnida: Araneae, Opiliones, Scorpiones, Pseudoscorpiones, Palpigradi, Solifugae). Fragmenta Entomologica 57: 197-204 pdf

Ivanov V V (2013) The checklist of Belarusian spiders (Arachnida, Araneae). Zoology and Ecology 4: 293-311 pdf

Knoflach B, Thaler K (1998) Kugelspinnen und verwandte Familien von Österreich: ökofaunistische Übersicht (Araneae: Theridiidae, Anapidae, Mysmenidae, Nesticidae). Stapfia 667-712 pdf

Koponen S, Fritzén N R, Pajunen T (2016) Checklist of spiders in Finland (Araneae). 6th version, December 2016, online at http://biolcoll.utu.fi/arach/checklist_of_spiders_in_Finland.htm pdf

Kostanjšek R, Kuntner M (2015) Araneae Sloveniae: a national spider species checklist. ZooKeys 474: 1-91 pdf

Kronestedt T (2001) Checklist of Spiders (Araneae) in Sweden [Preliminary version February 2001] pdf

Lavery A (2019) A revised checklist of the spiders of Great Britain and Ireland. Arachnology 18: 196-212 pdf

Le Peru B (2007) Catalogue et répartition des araignées de France. Revue Arachnologique 16: 1-468 pdf

Locket G H, Millidge A F (1953) British spiders. Vol. II. Ray Society, London, 449 pp. pdf

Løvbrekke H (unpubl.)

Maurer R, Hänggi A (1990) Katalog der schweizerischen Spinnen. Documenta Faunistica Helvetiae 12 pdf

Naumova M, Blagoev G, Deltshev D (2021) Fifty spider species new to the Bulgarian fauna, with a review of some dubious species (Arachnida: Araneae). Zootaxa 4984: 228-257 pdf

Otto S (2022) Caucasian spiders. A faunistic database on the spiders of the Caucasus Ecoregion. Database version 02.2022. Internet: caucasus-spiders.info.

Polchaninova N, Prokopenko E (2019) An updated checklist of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of Left-Bank Ukraine. Arachnologische Mitteilungen 57: 60-64 & App pdf

Ponomarev A V (2022) Spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of the southeast of the Russian Plain: catalogue, the fauna specific features. SSC RAS Publishers, Rostov-on-Don, 640 pp. pdf

Roberts M J (1995) Collins Field Guide: Spiders of Britain & Northern Europe. HarperCollins, London, 383 pp. pdf

Rozwałka R, Stanska M (2008) Check-list of spiders (Araneae) of Poland. 1. December 2008. online at http://www.arachnologia.edu.pl/en/species/8-spiders-of-poland.html pdf

Růžička V, Řezáč M (2022a) Seznam pavouků České republiky. List of spiders of the Czech Republic. Online at https://www.arachnology.cz/seznam-pavouku-cr-26.html and https://www.arachnology.cz/en/seznam-pavouku-cr-26.html pdf

Samu F, Szinetár C (1999) Bibliographic check list of the Hungarian spider fauna. Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society 11: 161-184 pdf

Scharff N, Gudik-Sørensen O (2006) Katalog over Danmarks edderkopper (Araneae). Catalogue of the spiders of Denmark (Araneae). Entomologiske Meddelelser 74: 3-71 pdf

Vilbaste A (1987) Eesti Ämblikud (Aranei). Annoteeritud nimestik. Estonian spiders (Aranei). An annotated check list. Valgus, Tallinn. 113 pp. & 512 maps on 67 unpag. pages pdf

Weiss I, Petrișor A (1999) List of the spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) from Romania. Travaux du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle “Grigore Antipa” 41: 79-107 pdf

Wiehle H (1937) Spinnentiere oder Arachnoidea, VIII. 26: Familie Theridiidae oder Haubennetzspinnen (Kugelspinnen). Die Tierwelt Deutschlands 33: 119-222 pdf

WSC (2026) World Spider Catalog. Version 27. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (13.2.2026) doi: 10.24436/2 pdf

Updates
10-03-2026 Image insert
28-10-2025 Distribution update Detail
10-06-2021 Distribution insert Detail
15-12-2017 Image insert
28-04-2014 Distribution update Detail
15-04-2013 Datasheet update Detail
15-04-2013 Distribution update Detail