''Philoponella'' is a genus of uloborid spiders. Like all Uloboridae, these species have no

venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

Cooperation

Some species (among them ''P. congregabilis'' and ''P. oweni'') construct communal webs, but nevertheless do not capture prey cooperatively. However, a few species, such as ''P. raffrayi'', are known to cooperate in prey capture. A colony of ''P. raffrayi'' is composed of individual orb-webs connected by non-adhesive silk. Its average body length is about 6 mm in females and 3 mm in males. Adult females are orange for at least a week after the final molt, and become black a few weeks later. In these colonies, ''

Argyrodes The genus name is a combination of the Ancient Greek " argyros" (), meaning "silver", and the suffix "-odes", meaning "like". ''Argyrodes'', also called dewdrop spiders, is a genus of comb-footed spiders that was first described by Eugène Louis ...

'' and '' Portia'' species can also be found, acting as

kleptoparasite Kleptoparasitism (originally spelt clepto-parasitism, meaning "parasitism by theft") is a form of feeding in which one animal deliberately takes food from another. The strategy is Evolutionarily stable strategy, evolutionarily stable when stealin ...

s and

predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

s, respectively. When relatively large prey is trapped on the periphery of the colony, two females cooperate in about 10% of cases in wrapping it, which increases their chances of success about fourfold. However, only one female then feeds on this prey. Cooperative capture is similar in ''P. republicana'', where more than two individuals may work together. '' Philoponella vicina'' uses its silk to compress and crush its prey.Eberhard, William G.; Barrantes, Gilbert & Weng, Ju-Lin (2006). "Tie them up tight: wrapping by ''Philoponella vicina'' spiders breaks, compresses and sometimes kills their prey". ''Naturwissenschaften'' 95(5): 251-254. �
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Distribution

''Philoponella'' species occur pantropical in the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, southeastern

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, with almost half of them found from the southern

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

to northern

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Species

, it contains 43 species: * '' Philoponella alata'' (Lin & Li, 2008) — China * '' Philoponella angolensis'' (Lessert, 1933) —

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

* '' Philoponella arizonica'' (Gertsch, 1936) — USA,

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

* '' Philoponella bella'' Opell, 1979 —

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

* '' Philoponella collina'' (Keyserling, 1883) —

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

* '' Philoponella congregabilis'' (

Rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

, 1916) — Australia. Introduced to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

* '' Philoponella cymbiformis'' Xie et al., 1997 —

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

* '' Philoponella divisa'' Opell, 1979 — Colombia, Brazil * '' Philoponella duopunctata'' Faleiro & Santos, 2014 — Brazil * '' Philoponella fasciata'' (Mello-Leitão, 1917) —

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

, Argentina * '' Philoponella feroka'' (Bradoo, 1979) —

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

* '' Philoponella fluviidulcifis'' (Faleiro & Santos, 2014) — Brazil * '' Philoponella gibberosa'' (Kulczynski, 1908) —

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

* '' Philoponella herediae'' Opell, 1987 —

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

* '' Philoponella hilaris'' ( Simon, 1906) —

* '' Philoponella lingulata'' Dong, Zhu & Yoshida, 2005 — China * '' Philoponella lunaris'' (C. L. Koch, 1839) — Brazil * '' Philoponella mollis'' (Thorell, 1895) —

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

* '' Philoponella nasuta'' (Thorell, 1895) — China, Myanmar * '' Philoponella nigromaculata'' Yoshida, 1992 —

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

* '' Philoponella opelli'' (Faleiro & Santos, 2014) — Ecuador, Brazil * '' Philoponella operosa'' (Simon, 1896) —

* '' Philoponella oweni'' (Chamberlin, 1924) — USA, Mexico * '' Philoponella pantherina'' (Keyserling, 1890) — Australia (

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

) * '' Philoponella para'' Opell, 1979 — Paraguay, Argentina * '' Philoponella pisiformis'' Dong, Zhu & Yoshida, 2005 — China * '' Philoponella pomelita'' Grismado, 2004 — Argentina * '' Philoponella prominens'' (Bösenberg & Strand, 1906) — China,

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, Taiwan,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

* '' Philoponella quadrituberculata'' (Thorell, 1893) — Java,

Moluccas The Maluku Islands ( ; , ) or the Moluccas ( ; ) are an archipelago in the eastern part of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located in West Melanesi ...

* '' Philoponella raffrayi'' (Simon, 1891) — Java, Moluccas * '' Philoponella ramirezi'' Grismado, 2004 — Brazil * '' Philoponella republicana'' (Simon, 1891) — Panama to

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

* '' Philoponella rostralis'' (Shilpa & Sudhikumar, 2022) — India * '' Philoponella sabah'' Yoshida, 1992 — Borneo * '' Philoponella semiplumosa'' (Simon, 1893) — USA,

Greater Antilles The Greater Antilles is a grouping of the larger islands in the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica, together with Navassa Island and the Cayman Islands. Seven island states share the region of the Greater Antille ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

* '' Philoponella signatella'' (Roewer, 1951) — Mexico to

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

* '' Philoponella subvittata'' Opell, 1981 —

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

* '' Philoponella tingens'' (Chamberlin & Ivie, 1936) — Mexico to Colombia * '' Philoponella truncata'' (Thorell, 1895) — Myanmar, Java * '' Philoponella variabilis'' (Keyserling, 1887) — Australia (

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, New South Wales) * '' Philoponella vicina'' (O. P.-Cambridge, 1899) — Mexico to Costa Rica * '' Philoponella vittata'' (Keyserling, 1881) — Panama to Paraguay * '' Philoponella wuyiensis'' Xie et al., 1997 — China

Footnotes

References

* Tamerlan Thorell (1895)
Descriptive catalogue of the spiders of Burma
* Opell, B.D. (1987). "The new species ''Philoponella herediae'' and its modified orb-web (Araneae, Uloboridae)". ''J. Arachnol.'' 15: 59-63
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* Matsumoto, Toshiya (1998). "Cooperative prey capture in the communal web spider, ''Philoponella raffray'' (Araneae, Uloboridae)". ''Journal of Arachnology'' 26: 392-396
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* Grismado, Christian J. (2004). "Two new species of the genus ''Philoponella'' from Brazil and Argentina (Araneae, Uloboridae)". ''Iheringia, Sér. Zool.'' 94(1): 105-109
PDF
* Platnick, Norman I. (2008).

', version 8.5. American Museum of Natural History. {{Taxonbar, from=Q3023686 Uloboridae Araneomorphae genera Taxa named by Cândido Firmino de Mello-Leitão Pantropical spiders