''Acantharachne'' 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 ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

n orb-weaver spiders first described by

Albert Tullgren Hugo Albert Tullgren (7 September 1874, in Stockholm – 1 July 1958) was a Swedish entomologist and arachnologist. In 1899 he received his bachelor's degree from Uppsala University, then from 1902 worked as an assistant at the National Entom ...

in 1910.

Taxonomy

The genus ''Acantharachne'' was erected by

in 1910 for the species '' Acantharachne cornuta''. There was already a genus of

echinoderm An echinoderm () is any animal of the phylum Echinodermata (), which includes starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars and sea cucumbers, as well as the sessile sea lilies or "stone lilies". While bilaterally symmetrical as ...

s with a name differing only in the last letter, ''Acantharachna'', so in 1929,

Embrik Strand Embrik Strand (2 June 1876 – 3 November 1947) was an entomologist and arachnologist who classified many insect and spider species, including the greenbottle blue tarantula. Life and career Strand was born in Ål, Norway. He studied at t ...

put forward a

replacement name In biological nomenclature, a ''nomen novum'' (Latin for "new name"), replacement name (or new replacement name, new substitute name, substitute name) is a replacement scientific name that is created when technical, nomenclatural reasons have mad ...

, ''Acantharanea''. However, as the spelling was different, even if only by one letter, replacement was unnecessary.

Species

it contains eight species: *'' Acantharachne cornuta'' Tullgren, 1910 – East Africa *'' Acantharachne giltayi'' Lessert, 1938 – Congo, Madagascar *''

Acantharachne lesserti ''Acantharachne'' is a genus of African Araneidae, orb-weaver spiders first described by Albert Tullgren in 1910. Taxonomy The genus ''Acantharachne'' was erected by Albert Tullgren in 1910 for the species ''Acantharachne cornuta''. There was al ...

'' Giltay, 1930 – Congo *'' Acantharachne madecassa'' Emerit, 2000 – Madagascar *'' Acantharachne milloti'' Emerit, 2000 – Madagascar *'' Acantharachne psyche'' Strand, 1913 – Central Africa *'' Acantharachne regalis'' Hirst, 1925 – Cameroon, Congo *'' Acantharachne seydeli'' Giltay, 1935 – Congo

References

Araneidae genera Spiders of Africa {{Araneidae-stub