Platnickina mneon?

Fact Box Species: Platnickina mneon? (This identification is tentative: see notes below) Family: Theridiidae Body length: female: about 3.5 mm male: about 3.5 mm Habitat: As the accompanying photos suggest, this species is presumed to build a small tangled web among shrubs in eucalypt forests and some garden settings Toxicity: This species may be too small to cause a serious human illness

Another view Another female Immature male

The identity of this spider is uncertain but it is here suggested to be Platnickina mneon or a closely related species because of its physical similarities with the available photographs of Platnickina species (formerly Keijia species) found in other parts of the world. In their 2008 paper "New synonyms and replacement names in the genus group taxa of Araneida" in Miscellaneous Papers No. 139-140 of the Centre for Entomological Studies Ankara (ISSN 1015-8235) Ahmet Kocak and Muhabbet Kemal state that Platnickina species can be found on almost all continents but the only known pantropical species is Platnickina mneon.

Known range: This is the only Platnickina species known for the countries north of Australia and its range could extend down to South Queensland, which is where the specimen shown on this page was found. It is of course possible that this spider really belongs to some other genus and may eventually be assigned a generic and species name other than Platnickina mneon.

Spider(s) with a very similar appearance: Some other small theridiids.