Theotima minutissima facts for kids

Theotima minutissima is a tiny spider, so small you might barely see it! It's only about 0.9 millimeters long, which is less than the tip of a pencil.

Where It Lives

This little spider lives in many warm, tropical places around the world. Scientists call this a "pantropical" distribution, meaning it's found across tropical areas on different continents. You can find T. minutissima in countries like Panama, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Guam. It's especially common in the tropical forests of El Yunque in Puerto Rico.

These spiders like to live in the leaf litter on the forest floor. They prefer areas with smaller leaves that decay easily, especially in forests that are a bit damp. They usually live at elevations lower than 800 meters (about 2,600 feet).

How It Reproduces

One very interesting thing about Theotima minutissima is how it has babies. Scientists have collected over a thousand of these spiders, but they have never found a male! This means that these spiders, and possibly others in their group, reproduce without a male partner. This special way of having babies is called parthenogenesis. It means the females can lay eggs that hatch into new spiders all by themselves.