Theridiidae  Sundevall, 1833 / Cryptachaea  Archer, 1946   3 species

Cryptachaea blattea  (Urquhart, 1886)

Description
Male

Pedipalp with short embolus that lies against conductor. Prosoma dark yellow to dark brown or black. Sternum dark brown. Legs whitish yellow, with dark brown annulations. Opisthosoma with black and white pattern, and with small tubercle situated just posterior to mid-dorsal point.

Body length male: 1.7-2.4 mm
Female

Epigyne with protruding knob and roundish opening. Colouration as in males. Opisthosoma: dorsal tubercle less pronounced.

Body length female: 2.2-3.2 mm
Additional information

In Europe found in gardens and parks. This species probably originated in Macaronesia and is not native to Europe (alien species). It had been introduced to Europe at least once and did establish.

Distribution
  Presence
  Not established
  No data
Global distribution (WSC 2024): Africa. Introduced to USA, Chile, Azores, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii
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.

Albania   (Deltshev et al., 2011b) ||| Belgium   (Bosmans & Van Keer, 2017) ||| France   (no references) ||| Germany   (Blick et al., 2016) ||| Ireland   (Nolan, 2020) ||| Netherlands   (no references) ||| Portugal   (Branco et al., 2019) ||| Switzerland   (no references) ||| United Kingdom   (Lavery, 2019) |||
References

Bink J (2014a) Cryptachaea blattea (Urquhart, 1886) (Araneae, Theridiidae) voor het eerst waargenomen in Nederland. Nieuwsbrief SPINED 34: 11 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

Crespo L C, Cardoso P, Henriques S, Gaspar C (2009b) Spiders (Araneae) from Porto Santo (Madeira, Portgal): Additions to the current knowledge. Boletín de la Sociedad Entomologica Aragonesa 45: 471-475 pdf

Deltshev C, Vrenozi B, Blagoev G, Lazarov S (2011b) Spiders of Albania – faunistic and zoogeographical review (Arachnida: Araneae). Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 63: 125-144 pdf

Hänggi A, Straub S (2016) Storage buildings and greenhouses as stepping stones for non-native potentially invasive spiders (Araneae) - a baseline study in Basel, Switzerland Arachnologische Mitteilungen 51: 1-8 pdf

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

Le Divelec, Courtial C, Rollard C (2018) Cryptachaea blattea (Urquart, 1886) and Pseudomaro aenigmaticus (Denis, 1966): deux araignées nouvelles pour la France (Araneae: Theridiidae, Linyphiidae). Revue Arachnologique (2) 5: 2-6 pdf

Løvbrekke H (unpubl.)

Marriott D (2012) Cryptachaea blattea (Urquhart, 1886) a theridiid new to Great Britain. Newsletter of the British Arachnological Society 123: 9-10 pdf

Nolan M (2020) Notes on ‘Irish’ spiders (Arachnida): Atypus affinis Eichwald (Atypidae) and Entelecara errata O. P.-Cambridge (Linyphiidae) removed from the Irish list; Cryptachaea blattea (Urquhart) (Theridiidae) new to Ireland. Bulletin of the Irish Biogeographical Society 44: 189-204 pdf

Sührig A (2010) Cryptachaea blattea, eine weitere nach Deutschland eingeschleppte Spinnenart (Araneae: Theridiidae). Arachnologische Mitteilungen 39: 1-4 pdf

Vink C J, Dupérré N, Paquin P, Fitzgerald B M, Sirvid P J (2009) The cosmopolitan spider Cryptachaea blattea (Urquhart 1886) (Araneae: Theridiidae): Redescription, including COI sequence, and new synonymy. Zootaxa 2133: 55-63 pdf

WSC (2024) World Spider Catalog. Version 25.0. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch (22.01.2024) doi: 10.24436/2 pdf

Updates
15-09-2022 Image insert
07-03-2022 Distribution update Detail
16-11-2020 Distribution insert Detail
07-01-2019 Distribution update Detail
02-02-2017 Image insert
02-02-2016 Distribution update Detail
08-01-2015 Distribution update Detail
04-12-2013 Distribution update Detail