球蛛科蜘蛛种类多，数量大，是多种生态系统中重要的捕食者。同时，该科部分种类具有盗寄生、专性捕食蚂蚁、形成交配栓、营社会性等特殊行为，也是研究蛛丝、蛛毒的重要材料。上述研究热点均迫切需要一个科学的球蛛科系统发育关系做支撑。中国球蛛科资源丰富，是世界球蛛科的重要组成部分。本项目拟在申请者前期国外访学期间研究世界球蛛科系统发育关系的基础上，广泛收集中国球蛛科标本，提取其形态、行为和分子数据，重建世界球蛛科系统发育关系。项目共分四部分：（1）球蛛科经典分类；（2）球蛛科形态、行为特征提取；（3）球蛛科物种多个基因片段的扩增与测序；（4）基于形态、行为与分子数据构建世界球蛛科精准系统发育树，重建世界球蛛科分类系统。本课题的研究结果不仅有助于摸清中国球蛛科家底，理清中国球蛛科种上阶元的起源、进化和系统发育关系，更为世界球蛛科种上阶元进化中一系列广泛存在争议的重要科学问题提供新的，具有较高可信度的证据。

Cobweb spiders (Theridiidae) are highly diverse from the perspective of species richness, morphological diversity, variety of web architecture, and behavioral repertoires. The family includes over 50% of social spiders, a behavioral rarity among the order, and members of the family are furthermore the subject of research on venom, silk biomechanics, kleptoparasitism and web building, among other traits. Theridiidae is one of the most abundant groups of spiders, and thus key insect predators in many different ecosystems and is among relatively few spider families that show high degree of myrmecophagy. Modern comparative studies on all these fronts are best buttressed on a phylogenetic foundation. Our goal of this proposed project is to offer a revised, dated, phylogenetic hypothesis for the family by summarizing previously published data from multiple molecular and morphological studies which were carried out by applicant as a visiting scholar in Ingi Agnarsson’s lab during 2014-2015, and adding novel data from China. We shall make collection of specimens from various sources including our lab, other domestic and foreign labs and the field collections in the future, and carry out a systematic taxonomy research on Chinese Theridiidae based morphological, behavioral, and DNA data. We plan to do our research from the following four aspects: (1) we will present the classical morphological taxonomy research on Chinese Theridiidae; (2) we will analyze the morphological and behavioral characteristics of Theridiidae; (3) we will amplify and sequence six gene fragments for every species including two mitochondrial: the large-subunit ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA, hereafter 16S) and the protein-coding cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI); and four nuclear: the protein-coding histone H3 (H3), the large-subunit ribosomal RNA (28S rRNA, hereafter 28S), the nearly complete small-subunit ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA, hereafter 18S), and the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2); (4) we will combine sequence data from six genes with a morphological and behavioral dataset in a total-evidence phylogenetic analysis, and explore the phylogenetic signal of the combined dataset, morphology, individual genes, and gene combinations with different parsimony methods and model-based approaches. The results from this study will not only enhance our understanding of the origin, evolution and phylogenetic relationships of Chinese Theridiidae but also shed lights on the scientific issues of world Theridiidae such as the issue of subfamily classification systems of this family.