Cercidia

Cercidia is a genus of orb-weaver spiders (family Araneidae). As of December 2025^[update], it contained only three species.^[1]

Cercidia
Cercidia prominens
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Araneidae
Genus:	Cercidia Thorell, 1869[1]
Type species
C. prominens (Westring, 1851)
Species
C. levii Marusik, 1985 – Russia (Europe), Kazakhstan C. prominens (Westring, 1851) – North America, Europe, Caucasus, Russia (Europe to Far East), Kazakhstan C. punctigera Simon, 1889 – India

Description

The genus Cercidia can be distinguished from other Palearctic araneid genera by the possession of a scutum bearing spines and having a clypeus about 2.5 times the size of the median eyes. In related species, the clypeus is less than or equal to the diameter of the anterior median eyes.^[2]

Taxonomy

The genus was first erected in 1866 by Anton Menge using the name Cerceis. However, this genus name had already been used in 1840 for a genus of crustaceans, so was not available. The replacement name Cercidia was published by Tamerlan Thorell in 1869.^[1][3] The name is derived from the Greek κερκίς 'shuttle'.^[3]

In 1975, Herbert Walter Levi considered that Cercidia contained only one certain species, C. prominens. He doubted that C. punctigera belonged to the genus.^[4] The third species accepted by the World Spider Catalog as of December 2025^[update], C. levii, was not described until 1985.^[1]