''Mecynogea'' is a
genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
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 Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist in history, ...
in 1903.
The name is derived from the Greek mekyno (μηυνω), meaning "to lengthen", and "gea" (γεα), meaning "earth".
Species
it contains nine species in the Americas:
*''
Mecynogea apatzingan''
Levi
Levi ( ; ) was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third of the six sons of Jacob and Leah (Jacob's third son), and the founder of the Israelites, Israelite Tribe of Levi (the Levites, including the Kohanim) and the great-grandfather of Aaron ...
, 1997 – Mexico
*''
Mecynogea bigibba''
Simon, 1903 – Brazil, Uruguay
*''
Mecynogea buique''
Levi, 1997 – Brazil
*''
Mecynogea erythromela''
(Holmberg, 1876) – Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile
*''
Mecynogea infelix''
(Soares & Camargo, 1948) – Colombia, Brazil
*''
Mecynogea lemniscata''
(Walckenaer
Baron Charles Athanase Walckenaer (25 December 1771 – 28 April 1852) was a French civil servant, writer, man of letters, and scientist. He was a polymath and wrote extensively on geography, natural history, and literature. Major contributio ...
, 1841) – USA to Argentina
*''
Mecynogea martiana''
(Archer
Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern ...
, 1958) – Cuba, Hispaniola
*''
Mecynogea ocosingo''
Levi, 1997 – Mexico
*''
Mecynogea sucre''
Levi, 1997 – Venezuela, Brazil
References
Araneidae
Araneomorphae genera
Spiders of North America
Spiders of South America
Taxa named by Eugène Simon
{{Araneidae-stub