''Acacesia'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of orb-weaver spiders first described by

Eugène Simon Eugène Louis Simon (; 30 April 1848 – 17 November 1924) was a French naturalist who worked particularly on insects and spiders, but also on birds and plants. He is by far the most prolific spider taxonomist in history, describing over 4, ...

in 1895. It contains six species with a mostly neotropical distribution, ranging from

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

to Mexico. One

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, ''A. hamata'', is found in the US as well.

Description

The backs of spiders in this genus are marked with a

dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use de ...

shape, outlined in black and surrounded by a triangular folium. On each side of the dagger there are parallel rows of orange-brown dots. Body length of females ranges from , of males from

Behavior

As the other species are only known from museum specimens, only the natural history ''A. hamata'' is known in any detail.

Relationships

Ocrepeira ''Ocrepeira'' is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by George Marx in 1883. Species it contains sixty-seven species: *'' O. abiseo'' Levi, 1993 – Peru *'' O. albopunctata'' (Taczanowski, 1879) – Peru, Brazil, Guyana, French Guia ...

'' and ''

Cyclosa ''Cyclosa'', also called trashline orbweavers, is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Anton Menge in 1866. Widely distributed worldwide, spiders of the genus ''Cyclosa'' build relatively small orb webs with a web decoration. The we ...

'' are close relatives of this genus.

Species

it contains six species: *'' Acacesia benigna'' Glueck, 1994 – Peru, Bolivia, Brazil *'' Acacesia graciosa'' Lise & Braul, 1996 – Brazil *'' Acacesia hamata'' (Hentz, 1847) – USA to Argentina *'' Acacesia tenella'' (L. Koch, 1871) – Mexico to Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana *'' Acacesia villalobosi'' Glueck, 1994 – Brazil *''

Acacesia yacuiensis ''Acacesia'' is a genus of orb-weaver spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1895. It contains six species with a mostly neotropical distribution, ranging from South America to Mexico. One species, ''A. hamata'', is found in the US as we ...

'' Glueck, 1994 – Brazil, Argentina

References

External links

* BugGuide
Photographs of ''A. hamata''
Araneidae Araneomorphae genera Spiders of the United States Spiders of Mexico Spiders of South America Taxa named by Eugène Simon {{Araneidae-stub