Araneidae Clerck, 1757

Family |   ACCEPTED

N.B.: family name and authorship as per ICZN, 2009 Opinion 2224, after application by Kluge, 2007; Arkyinae L. Koch, 1872 (genera Arkys Walckenaer, 1837 and Demadiana Strand, 1929) elevated to Arkyidae by Dimitrov et al., 2017: 244; monophyly of Araneidae stated by Kallal et al., 2018: 138; Nephilinae Simon, 1894 [urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spiderfam:0111] elevated to family and relimited by Kuntner, 2006: 24, re-synonymized with Araneidae by Dimitrov et al., 2017: 244; Nephilinae and Phonognathinae Simon, 1894 (Simon, 1894a: 746 as Phonognatheae), the valid name for Zygiellinae Simon, 1929 sensu Wunderlich, 2004f, elevated to family by Kuntner et al., 2019: 563, not accepted by Scharff et al., 2020 and Kallal et al., 2020, and confirmed as family by Kuntner et al., 2023: 969-970 along with the separation of Paraplectanoididae Kuntner, Coddington, Agnarsson & Bond, 2023; Nephilinae and Phonognathinae downgraded to subfamily and Paraplectanoididae considered a synonym of Araneidae by Hormiga et al., 2023: 803; family status of Paraplectanoididae, Nephilidae and Phonognathidae revalidated by Kuntner et al., 2025: 17, 23, but not accepted here for reasons of stability; Oarcinae (Gnolus and Oarces) transferred from the Mimetidae to the Araneidae by Dimitrov et al., 2012: Suppl. 1, p. 15, re-transfer to the Mimetidae by Eskov & Marusik, 2023: 340 not accepted here (by majority vote of the WSC boards); Eskov & Marusik, 2023: 241 and Eskov & Marusik, 2024: 52 consider Zygiellidae as the valid name instead of Phonognathidae and accept the family status of Nephilidae; the status of the Nephilinae and Phonognathinae (= Zygiellidae) as subfamilies is accepted by majority vote of the WSC boards; Eskov & Marusik, 2024: 52 list ten subfamilies and tribes as valid (besides Nephilidae and Zygiellidae): Araneinae, Argiopinae Simon, 1890a: 81 (sub Argiopidae), Cyrtarachninae Simon, 1895a: 876 (sub Cyrtarachneae), Сyrtophorinae Simon, 1895a: 876 (sub Cyrtophoreae), Gasteracanthinae O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1871e: 217 (sub Gasteracanthides), Micratheninae Simon, 1895a: 848 (sub Micratheneae), Guizygiellinae Zhu, Song & Zhang, 2003: 42, Caerostrini Simon, 1895a: 831 (sub Cerostreae), Hypognathini Simon, 1895a: 871 (sub Hypognatheae) and Poltyini Simon, 1895a: 888 (sub Poltyeae).

Gen. Hypsacantha Dahl, 1914 urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidergen:01494
type Gasteracantha crucimaculata Dahl, 1914; gender feminine
N.B.: described as subgenus of Gastheracantha Sundevall, 1833; elevated to genus by Emerit, 1973: 688 and Emerit, 1974: 29.
Hypsacantha crucimaculata (Dahl, 1914) | | Central African Rep., DR Congo, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:016180 TYPE SPECIES
Gasteracantha (Hypsacantha) crucimaculata Dahl, 1914: 257, f. 4 (Df) Original description
Isoxya crucimaculata Benoit, 1962a: 31 (T from Gasteracantha)
Hypsacantha crucimaculata Emerit, 1973: 688, f. 6-7, pl. IIF-G (Dm, f, T from Isoxya)
Hypsacantha crucimaculata Dippenaar-Schoeman et al., 2022e: 17, p. 16: 1 f., p. 17: 4 f. (f habitus)

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