Bhubaneswar, May 1 -- Scientists from Odisha have discovered a new 'happy-face spider' species, Theridion himalayana, in the Western Himalayas.

The finding, published in Pensoft's Evolutionary Systematics journal by Devi Priyadarshini and Ashirwad Tripathy, adds to India's tally of 1,992 spider species across 63 families.

According to a report by The New Indian Express, the species was discovered in Makku, Tala and Jagpura areas of Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand. It belongs to the Theridiidae family and shows 32 polymorphic forms with smile-like patterns in red, black and white.

Researchers compared it with the Hawaiian happy-face spider (Theridion grallator), but an 8.5% genetic difference shows T. himalayana evolved independently ...