Scientists discover new 'smiling spider' species in the Himalayas during ant survey

Until now, scientists believed that the unique spiders with a smile-like pattern were exclusive inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands, never found elsewhere on Earth. However, a recent accidental discovery in the high-altitude Himalayas has disproven this theory. The assumption was immediately shattered when researchers identified a similarly patterned spider in northern India’s Uttarakhand state.

Scientists have named the new species Theridion himalayana, meaning ‘Himalayan smiling spider’. Interestingly, the discovery was entirely unintentional. The research team was initially conducting a field survey focused on ant life.

‘Discovering this was accidental as our initial survey was about ants. My co-author, Ashirwad Tripathy, kept sending me photos of spiders from high-altitude areas for identification,’ said Devi Priyadarshini, a study author published in the journal Evolutionary Systematics.

Priyadarshini, also a scientist at the Regional Museum of Natural History, recounted the thrilling moment she first saw the spider photo. ‘On a clear day, when he shared this image from beneath a Daphniphyllum leaf, I was immediately stunned. I had seen the Hawaiian spider during my master’s studies and knew instantly we had a ’jackpot’ due to the striking resemblance,’ she added.

Scientists explained that high-altitude spiders inhabit different environmental landscapes where vegetation varies significantly from lowland areas. Regarding the name choice, Ashirwad Tripathy, a PhD candidate at the local Forest Research Institute, explained they wanted to honour the natural environment. The name ‘himalayana’ was chosen to pay tribute to the Himalayas, which not only stand tall guarding nations but also harbour immense biodiversity.

Overall, scientists identified 32 distinct colour variations, referred to as ‘morphs’, of the new species. All specimens were collected from three different locations in Uttarakhand: Makku, Tala, and Mandal. Through in-depth DNA analysis, it was revealed that the spider has an 8.5% genetic variation compared to the original Hawaiian smiling spider. This figure strongly confirms that Theridion himalayana belongs to a separate evolutionary lineage that developed independently in Asia.