Theridion proximum

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Theridion proximum is a spider in the Theridiidae family. It is found on Saint Helena and in South Africa, where it has been recorded in the Oudtshoorn Skeleton Cave in the Western Cape at about 357 meters above sea level. The species builds three‑dimensional webs in dark places, such as caves.

Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Chelicerata
- Class: Arachnida
- Order: Araneae
- Infraorder: Araneomorphae
- Family: Theridiidae
- Genus: Theridion
- Species: T. proximum
- Synonyms: Theridion proxima

Description
- The carapace is yellow with a fine brown margin; the cephalic portion and thoracic fovea are brown, and the eyes are ringed in blackish brown.
- Legs are yellow; the femora have two dark rings near the end, the tibiae have four blackish rings, and the metatarsi have smaller rings at the base, middle, and end (the middle ring may be faint).
- The abdomen from the top has a black area surrounding a light median band, with large white markings on each side toward the rear edge.
- The underside has spinnerets surrounded by a black ring that connects to the dorsal black area, and there is a medium-sized white spot below the epigastric fold.

Taxonomy and status
- Theridion proximum was described by Reginald Frederick Lawrence in 1964 from Oudtshoorn Skeleton Cave in the Western Cape. It has also been called Theridion proxima.
- The species is listed as Data Deficient by the South African National Biodiversity Institute because it is known from only one locality in South Africa with a very small range, and more sampling is needed to confirm its range and collect the male.
- The male was described later, in 2024, from Saint Helena specimens.