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Achaearanea

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Achaearanea
Temporal range: Neogene– Present
female Achaearanea sp.?
female A. propera from New Zealand
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Theridiidae
Genus: Achaearanea
Strand, 1929[1]
Type species
A. trapezoidalis
(Taczanowski, 1873)
Species

27, see text

Achaearanea is a genus of comb-footed spiders that was first described by Embrik Strand in 1929.[2]

It used to include the extremely abundant common house spider, which was transferred to genus Parasteatoda in 2006, together with many other species. A. veruculata and many more species were moved to genus Cryptachaea in 2008. Others were moved to the revived Henziectypus. The genus was thus reduced from about 150 species to about thirty species during major revisions.[1] Possibly even more species should be transferred to other genera.[3]

Distribution

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Species are found around the world, with several species from South America, China and Korea, India, Australia and Africa. Some species are endemic to several small islands.[1]

Life style

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Members of Achaearanea build an irregular network of threads, usually in a sheltered place. These spiders construct untidy tangled cob-webs amongst trees and along walls. Their webs sometimes contain a leaf or other debris used as shelter.[4]

The male and female may occupy the same web for some time before mating occurs. After mating, the female constructs up to eight pear-shaped papery brown egg-sacs. They feed on various insects, including ants and other spiders.[4]

Description

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This genus includes small and large theridiids. The legs are medium long, with spines and usually many hairs. Their web is an irregular network of threads, usually in a sheltered place.[5]

Species

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As of October 2025, this genus includes 27 species:[1]

In synonymy:

  • A. pentagona (Caporiacco, 1954) = Achaearanea hieroglyphica (Mello-Leitão, 1940)

Nomen dubium

  • A. quadripunctata (Simon, 1895)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Genus Achaearanea". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-10-02.
  2. ^ Strand, E. (1929). "Zoological and palaeontological nomenclatorical notes". Acta Universitatis Latviensis. 20: 1–29.
  3. ^ Hajime Yoshida (2008). "A revision of the genus Achaearanea (Araneae: Theridiidae)" (PDF). Acta Arachnologica. 57 (1): 37–40. doi:10.2476/asjaa.57.37.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ a b Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2021). The Theridiidae of South Africa. Part 1 A-P. Version 1. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 5. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7515890. This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
  5. ^ Henry S. Fitch (1963). Spiders of The University of Kansas Natural History Reservation and Rockefeller Experimental Tract.
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  • Media related to Achaearanea at Wikimedia Commons
  • Data related to Achaearanea at Wikispecies
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