Cladus: Eukaryota
Supergroup: Opisthokonta
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Superphylum: Ecdysozoa
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Classis: Arachnida
Ordo: Araneae
Subordo: Araneomorphae
Infraordo: Araneomorphi
Series: Entelegynae
Superfamilia: Araneoidea
Familia: Nephilidae
Genus: Herennia
Species: H. agnarssoni - H. deelemanae - H. etruscilla - H. gagamba - H. jernej - H. milleri - H. multipuncta - H. oz - H. papuana - H. sonja - H. tone

Name

Herennia Thorell, 1877

Type species: Epeira multipuncta Doleschall, 1859

References

* Kuntner, M. 2005. A revision of Herennia (Araneae, Nephilidae, Nephilinae), the Australasian 'coin spiders'. Invertebrate Systematics 19: 391-436. PDF
* Platnick, N. I. 2008. The World Spider Catalog, version 9.0. American Museum of Natural History. [1]

Herennia is a genus of spiders in the Nephilidae family with Australasian distribution. While two species have been known since the 19th century, nine new species were described in 2005. Spiders in this genus are sometimes called coin spiders.

While H. multipuncta is invasive and synanthropic, all other known species are endemic to islands.[1]

Like in the related genus Nephilengys, the much smaller males mutilate and sever their pedipalps, which are often found stuck in the epigynum or female genital openings. It is suggested that they act as mating plugs to prevent other males from mating with the female and thereby ensure the paternity of offspring. The males cannot mate subsequently and such "eunuch" individuals continue to stay near the female.[1][2][3]

Name

Herennia Etruscilla was the wife of Trajan Decius. There are coins bearing her image, which were probably the source for Thorell to name the genus. The non-scientific name coin spiders was proposed because of this fact.[1]

Species

Herennia agnarssoni Kuntner, 2005 — Solomon Islands
Herennia deelemanae Kuntner, 2005 — Borneo
Herennia etruscilla Kuntner, 2005 — Java
Herennia gagamba Kuntner, 2005 — Philippines
Herennia jernej Kuntner, 2005 — Sumatra
Herennia milleri Kuntner, 2005 — New Guinea, New Britain
Herennia multipuncta (Doleschall, 1859) — India to China, Borneo, Sulawesi
Herennia oz Kuntner, 2005 — Northern Territory
Herennia papuana Thorell, 1881 — New Guinea
Herennia sonja Kuntner, 2005 — Kalimantan, Sulawesi
Herennia tone Kuntner, 2005 — Philippines

References

^ a b c Kuntner, M. (2005). "A revision of Herennia (Araneae:Nephilidae:Nephilinae), the Australasian 'coin spiders'". Invertebrate Systematics 19 (5): 391-436.. doi:10.1071/IS05024.
^ Kuntner, M; Kralj-Fiser, S; JM Schneider & D. Li (2009). "Mate plugging via genital mutilation in nephilid spiders: an evolutionary hypothesis". Journal of Zoology 277: 257-266. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2008.00533.x.
^ Kuntner, M; I Agnarsson & M Gregoric (2009). "Nephilid spider eunuch phenomenon induced by female or rival male aggressiveness". The Journal of Arachnology 37: 266–271.