Scientists Discover New Happy Face Spider Species in Himalayas

The Happy Face spider, known for its bright colors and distinctive red smile on its back, was previously thought to inhabit only the Hawaiian Islands. This perception changed when researchers from the Forest Research Institute and the Regional Museum of Natural History discovered a similar spider species in the montane mountains of Uttarakhand, India.

Named Theridion himalayana, or the Himalayan Happy Face Spider, this species was identified during a survey initially focused on ants. “The discovery was accidental because our survey was [originally] on ants,” explained Devi Priyadarshini, a scientist at the Regional Museum of Natural History and coauthor of the study.

Mature Male (Left) and Female (Right) of Theridion himalayana sp. nov.

Priyadarshini recounted, “My co-author [Ashirwad Tripathy] kept sending me spiders from high-altitude regions for identification. One day, when he shared an image from the underside of a Daphniphyllum leaf, I froze in shock because I had seen the Hawaiian spider during my master’s program and knew instantly we had a jackpot due to its striking resemblance.” This led to further collection and study of various morphs from October 2023 onward.

Theridion Himalayana Spider

Priyadarshini expressed a longstanding interest in high-altitude spiders, noting that mountain environments differ markedly from plains in landscape and vegetation. “This almost came across as a gateway to look at other polymorphic species from this region.” Tripathy added that broader surveys might reveal additional variation within the species.

Map Showing the Theridion spp. From India

Species Name Honors Himalayan Mountains

The species name himalayana reflects the location of the discovery, at elevations above 2,000 meters in the Himalayas. “The name Himalayana was decided as the species name because we both wanted to pay our respects to the mighty Himalaya mountain ranges, which have been standing tall not just guarding our country but also holding a plethora of biodiversity within them,” Tripathy said. He noted that since this spider is the first polymorphic species identified in the region, naming it after the mountain range serves as an homage.

Nest Architecture of Theridion Himalayana

The research, published in the open-access journal Evolutionary Systematics, documented 32 color variations, or “morphs,” among specimens collected from three Uttarakhand sites: Makku, Tala, and Mandal. DNA analysis revealed approximately 8.5% genetic difference from the Hawaiian Happy Face spider, confirming that the Indian spider belongs to a distinct lineage that evolved independently in Asia.

Unclear Purpose of Distinctive Markings

Collage Showing Morphs of Some of the Males and Females of Theridion Himalayana in the Population

While the smile-like markings on the spider’s back are visually prominent, their functional role remains unknown. Priyadarshini explained, “The reason behind the expression of polymorphism is also very complex and unique. These patterns definitely help them survive better in the wild, which is understood prima facie, but why do they resort to such patterns on their back, and what functional role in their life cycle does it exactly serve is yet to be deciphered. This is definitely indicative of a deeper genetic mystery.”

Tripathy observed that the spider was found alongside other small creatures exhibiting similar color patterns. The study also noted that these spiders frequently inhabit ginger plants (Hedychium species), paralleling the behavior of their Hawaiian counterparts. Since ginger is not native to Hawaii, this raises new questions about the spiders’ evolutionary history.

Priyadarshini remarked, “How did the spiders choose an invasive species and ginger exactly? If T. himalayana is an elder cousin of T. grallator, although discovered 125 years later! Although this sounds like a tall claim now, it will be our further scope of work to establish any missing links, if at all, through Hedychium sps.”

The study titled “On the discovery of a new polymorphic Happy-Face Spider (Araneae, Theridiidae) from the Western Himalayas, India, with notes on its natural history” was authored by Ashirwad Tripathy and Devi Priyadarshini and published on 24 April 2026 in Evolutionary Systematics. Its DOI is 10.3897/evolsyst.10.174338.