Theridiidae  Sundevall, 1833 / Phoroncidia  Westwood, 1835   4 species

Phoroncidia paradoxa (Lucas, 1846)

Description
Male

Prosoma yellow-brown, 0.6 mm long. Sternum yellow-brown. Opisthosoma yellow-brown, almost white ventrally.

Body length male: 1.3-1.5 mm
Female

Prosoma red-brown, with thin black borderline, or uniform black. Prosoma 0.8 mm long. Eyes: AME same size as PME. Legs brown, annulated.

Body length female: 2.0 mm
Additional information

In holm oak forests, garrigue, heathlands and in bush layer.

Distribution
  Presence
  No data
Global distribution (WSC 2026): Southern Europe, North Africa, Turkey
Phenology
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
 male  female
Figures
Distribution List
Algeria   (Benhacene et al., 2023) ||| Croatia   (Milosevic, 2002) ||| France   (Le Peru, 2007) ||| France / Corsica   (Le Peru, 2007) ||| Italy   (Isaia et al., 2025) ||| Morocco   (Lecigne et al., 2025) ||| Portugal   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Slovenia   (Kuralt et al., 2024) ||| Spain   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Switzerland   (Hänggi et al., 2014) ||| Turkey (Asia)   (Kunt et al., 2012; Danışman et al., 2025a) |||
References

Benhacene R, Adjami A, Hadjeb A, Kermiche K, Ouakid M L (2023) Bibliographic checklist of the Algerian spider fauna (Araneae). Zootaxa 5352: 301-357 pdf

Bosselaers J (unpubl.)

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

Hänggi A, Stäubli A, Heer X, Trivellone V, Pollini Paltrinieri L, Moretti M (2014) Eleven new spider species (Arachnida: Araneae) for Switzerland discovered in vineyards in Ticino - What are possible reasons? Mitteilungen der Schweizerischen Entomologischen Gesellschaft 87: 215-228 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

Kunt K B, Kaya R S, Özkütük R S, Danişman T, Yağmur E A, Elverici M (2012) Additional notes on the spider fauna of Turkey (Araneae). Turkish Journal of Zoology 36: 637-651 pdf

Kuralt Ž, Pajek Arambašič N, Ferle M, Kostanjšek R (2024) A contribution to the Slovenian spider fauna – V. Natura Sloveniae 26: 29-42 pdf

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

Lecigne S, Moutaouakil S, Lips J (2025) Contribution to the knowledge of the spider fauna of Morocco (Arachnida: Araneae) – second note. On new species and new records from caves and miscellaneous terrestrial ecosystems. Journal of the Belgian Arachnological Society 40(1, supplement): 1-184 pdf

Milosevic B (2002) Aranea – Popis vrsta – Checklist. Hrvatsko entomološko društvo – Inventar entomofaune Hrvatske [Aranea – List of species – Checklist. Croatian Entomological Society – Inventory of Croatian entomofauna]. pdf

Otto S, Japoshvili G (2018) The spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of the Lagodekhi Reserve, Georgia: faunistic results of a transect study and an updated checklist. Arachnology 17: 375-391 pdf

Thaler K, Noflatscher M-T (1990) Neue und bemerkenswerte Spinnenfunde in Südtirol (Arachnida: Aranei). Veröffentlichungen des Museum Ferdinandeum in Innsbruck 69: 169-190 pdf

Vanuytven H (1991) A redescription of Phoroncidia paradoxa (Lucas, 1846) (Araneae: Theridiidae). Phegea 19: 103-105 pdf

WSC (2026) World Spider Catalog. Version 27. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (20.5.2026) doi: 10.24436/2 pdf

Updates
15-05-2025 Image insert
15-05-2025 Distribution update Detail
15-05-2025 Distribution insert Detail
17-11-2024 Distribution update Detail
15-10-2024 Distribution update Detail
18-07-2024 Distribution insert Detail
24-07-2018 Image insert
29-12-2017 Image insert
05-01-2015 Distribution update Detail
05-07-2013 Distribution update Detail