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. Thelacantha van Hasselt, 1882 urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidergen:01568
type Plectana flavida Doleschall, 1859; gender feminine; syn. of Thelacantha brevispina (Doleschall, 1857)
N.B.: removed from the synonymy of Gasteracantha Sundevall, 1833 by Benoit, 1964a: 49 and Emerit, 1974: 31 (contra Simon, 1895a: 845).

In synonymy:

Thelacantha formosana (Saito, 1933) = Thelacantha brevispina (Doleschall, 1857) (Yaginuma, 1960: 63, sub Gasteracantha mammosa)

Thelacantha sola (Saito, 1933) = Thelacantha brevispina (Doleschall, 1857) (Yaginuma, 1960: 63, sub Gasteracantha mammosa)

Thelacantha sparsa (Saito, 1933) = Thelacantha brevispina (Doleschall, 1857) (Yaginuma, 1960: 63, sub Gasteracantha mammosa)

Thelacantha brevispina (Doleschall, 1857) | | Madagascar, Mauritius, Pakistan to Japan and New Guinea, Australia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Hawaii urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:017085 TYPE SPECIES
Plectana brevispina Doleschall, 1857: 423 (Df) Original description
Plectana roseolimbata Doleschall, 1859: 43, pl. 13, f. 1 (Df)
Plectana flavida Doleschall, 1859: 43, pl. 13, f. 3 (Df)
Gasteracantha mammeata Thorell, 1859: 302 (Df)
Gasteracantha guttata Thorell, 1859: 302 (Df)
Gasteracantha borbonica Vinson, 1863: 236, 315, pl. 9, f. 5 (Df)
Gasteracantha alba Vinson, 1863: 240, 315 (Df)
Gasteracantha canningensis Stoliczka, 1869: 248, pl. 18, f. 1 (Df)
Gasteracantha suminata L. Koch, 1871: 11, pl. 1, f. 7 (Df)
Gasteracantha mastoidea L. Koch, 1872a: 201, pl. 18, f. 2 (Df)
Gasteracantha brevispina Thorell, 1878b: 17, 294
Stanneoclavis suminata Karsch, 1878c: 783 (Dm)
Stanneoclavis mastoidea Karsch, 1878c: 783 (Dm)
Actinacantha maculata Karsch, 1878c: 800 (Df)
Gasteracantha observatrix O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1879c: 291, pl. 27, f. 21 (Df)
Gasteracantha mammosa van Hasselt, 1882: 15 (misidentified per Emerit, 1974: 57)
Gasteracantha flavida van Hasselt, 1882: 15
Stanneoclavis latronum Simon, 1890c: 133 (Df)
Gasteracantha brevispina Workman & Workman, 1892: 8, pl. 8 (f)
Gasteracantha mammosa Dahl, 1914: 258, f. 12 (f; misidentified per Chrysanthus, 1959: 203)
Gasteracantha sola Saitō, 1933b: 56, pl. 3, f. 34 (Df) [urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:064910]
Gasteracantha sparsa Saitō, 1933b: 57, pl. 3, f. 35 (Df) [urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:064911]
Gasteracantha formosana Saitō, 1933b: 58, pl. 3, f. 32 (Df) [urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:064909]
Gasteracantha brevispina Chrysanthus, 1959: 203, f. 13, 19, 29 (f)
Gasteracantha brevispina Chrysanthus, 1960: 25, f. 5-6 (m)
Gasteracantha mammosa Yaginuma, 1960: 63 (S of Gasteracantha formosana, G. sola and G. sparsa; misidentified per Emerit, 1974: 57)
Thelacantha brevispina Benoit, 1964a: 49 (removed from S of Gasteracantha mammosa per Roewer)
Gasteracantha brevispina Tikader, 1970: 38, f. 23d (f)
Gasteracantha (Thelacantha) brevispina Chrysanthus, 1971: 47, f. 104 (f)
Thelacantha brevispina Emerit, 1974: 57, f. 17, 18A-B, 19A-C, 26A (mf)
Gasteracantha mammosa Tikader & Biswas, 1981: 34, f. 53-55 (f; misidentified sensu Benoit, 1964a: 49 and Emerit, 1974: 57)
Gasteracantha mammosa Tikader, 1982a: 55, g. 111-114 (f; misidentified sensu Benoit, 1964a: 49 and Emerit, 1974: 57)
Gasteracantha mammosa Chikuni, 1989b: 83, f. 65 (mf; misidentified sensu Benoit, 1964a: 49 and Emerit, 1974: 57)
Gasteracantha mammosa Feng, 1990: 84, f. 59.1-5 (f; misidentified per Song, Zhu & Chen, 1999: 309)
Gasteracantha mammosa Chen & Gao, 1990: 62, f. 76a-c (mf; misidentified per Song, Zhu & Chen, 1999: 309)
Gasteracantha mammosa Barrion & Litsinger, 1995: 554, f. 341a-e (f; misidentified per Tan et al., 2019a: 47)
Gasteracantha mammosa Yin et al., 1997d: 98, f. 27a-i (mf; misidentified per Song, Zhu & Chen, 1999: 309)
Thelacantha brevispina Song, Zhu & Chen, 1999: 309, f. 184C-F, 185H-I (mf)
Thelacantha brevispina Tanikawa, 2007c: 52, f. 64-70, 473-474 (mf)
Thelacantha brevispina Tanikawa, 2009: 429, f. 57-58 (mf)
Thelacantha brevispina Yin et al., 2012: 584, f. 281a-i (mf)
Thelacantha brevispina Dierkens & Charlat, 2013: 74, f. 24-25 (m)
Thelacantha brevispina Tan et al., 2019a: 47, f. 1H, 12A-E (f)
Thelacantha brevispina Macharoenboon, Siriwut & Jeratthitikul, 2021: 47, f. 10A-E, 12J-L (f)
Thelacantha cuspidata (C. L. Koch, 1837) | | Malaysia, Indonesia (Sumatra, Java) urn:lsid:nmbe.ch:spidersp:016015
Gasteracantha cuspidata C. L. Koch, 1837a: 22, f. 264 (Df) Original description
Plectana cuspidata Walckenaer, 1841: 154
Gasteracantha (Thelacantha) cuspidata Dahl, 1914: 258

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