''Chikunia'' 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 Asian

comb-footed spiders Theridiidae, also known as the tangle-web spiders, cobweb spiders and comb-footed spiders, is a large family of araneomorph spiders first described by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1833. This diverse, globally distributed family includes over 3,000 spec ...

that was first described by H. Yoshida in 2009. These spiders are small, often dark or orange colored. This species can be found in solidarity, though they can also be found in colonies.

Colonies

The species '' C. bilde'' and '' C. nigra'' are unique for spiders, as they are capable of forming intra-species colonies, both spiders being each others closest relative. Both species care for their young, and are thought to do the same to their neighbor's young. These colonies can be around 100 strong, with each adult keeping a distinct territory inside the colony. Another question raised by this unique arrangement, is the fact that they are both genetically distinct species.

Species

it contains three species, found in Asia: * '' Chikunia albipes'' (Saito, 1935) – Eastern

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* '' Chikunia bilde'' Smith, Agnarsson & Grinsted, 2019 –

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* ''

Chikunia nigra ''Chikunia nigra'' is a species of spider of the genus '' Chikunia''. It is found in Sri Lanka to Taiwan, and Indonesia. See also * List of Theridiidae species This page lists all described genera and species of the spider family Theridiidae ...

'' ( O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1880) –

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, Sri Lanka to Taiwan, Indonesia.

References

Theridiidae genera Spiders of Asia Theridiidae {{Theridiidae-stub