Cryptachaea

Cryptachaea
Female C. projectivulva
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Theridiidae
Genus: Cryptachaea
Archer, 1946
Type species
Theridion catapetraeum
Gertsch & Archer, 1942
Species

See text

Diversity
ca. 90 species
Web of P. projectivulva

Cryptachaea is a genus of spiders in the Theridiidae (tangle web spider) family.

Taxonomy

Many species in this genus used to reside in Achaearanea, which received a major revision in 2008 by Hajime Yoshida. The genus was originally established as a subgenus of Theridion.

Distribution

This is mostly a New World genus, with many species in South America. One species is cosmopolitan, one species occurs in the whole Palearctic, another only in China. C. veruculata was introduced to Europe from New Zealand.

Name

The genus name is a combination of Achaea, the old name of the genus Achaearanea, and Ancient Greek κρυπτός "hidden". The genus is called Iwama-himegumo zoku in Japanese.

Species