# Cercidia

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{{Short description|Genus of spiders}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Cercidia prominens1.jpg 
| image_caption = ''Cercidia prominens''
| taxon = Cercidia
| authority = [Thorell](/source/Tamerlan_Thorell), 1869<ref name=NMBE />
| subdivision = 
*''[C. levii](/source/Cercidia_levii)'' <small>Marusik, 1985</small> – Russia (Europe), Kazakhstan
*''[C. prominens](/source/Cercidia_prominens)'' <small>(Westring, 1851)</small> – North America, Europe, Caucasus, Russia (Europe to Far East), Kazakhstan
*''[C. punctigera](/source/Cercidia_punctigera)'' <small>Simon, 1889</small> – India
| type_species = ''C. prominens''
| type_species_authority = (Westring, 1851)
| subdivision_ranks = Species
}}

'''''Cercidia''''' is a [genus](/source/genus) of [orb-weaver spider](/source/orb-weaver_spider)s (family Araneidae). {{as of|2025|12}}, it contained only three species.<ref name=NMBE>{{cite web| title=Gen. ''Cercidia'' Thorell, 1869| website=World Spider Catalog| access-date=2025-12-04| publisher=Natural History Museum Bern| url=http://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/genus/292}}</ref>

==Description==
The genus ''Cercidia'' can be distinguished from other [Palearctic](/source/Palearctic_realm) araneid genera by the possession of a [scutum](/source/Glossary_of_spider_terms) bearing spines and having a [clypeus](/source/Glossary_of_spider_terms) 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.<ref name=Marus85>{{cite journal |last=Marusik |first=Y. M. |date=1985 |title=Ревизия пауков рода Cercidia Thorell (Aranei: Araneidae) сописанием нового вида |trans-title=Revision of the spider genus ''Cercidia'' Thorell (Aranei: Araneidae) with a description of a new species |journal=Vestnik Leningradskogo Universiteta (Biol.) |volume=3 |pages=114-118 |via=World Spider Catalog |url=https://wsc.nmbe.ch/reference/6096 |access-date=2025-12-04 |language=ru}}</ref>

==Taxonomy==
The genus was first erected in 1866 by [Anton Menge](/source/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](/source/Nomen_novum) ''Cercidia'' was published by [Tamerlan Thorell](/source/Tamerlan_Thorell) in 1869.<ref name=NMBE/><ref name=Thor1869>{{cite journal| last=Thorell| first=T.| year=1869| title=On European spiders. Part I. Review of the European genera of spiders, preceded by some observations on zoological nomenclature.| journal=Nova Acta Regiae Societatis Scientiarum Upsaliensis| pages=1–108| volume=7| issue=3}}</ref> The name is derived from the Greek κερκίς 'shuttle'.<ref name=Thor1869/>

In 1975, [Herbert Walter Levi](/source/Herbert_Walter_Levi) considered that ''Cercidia'' contained only one certain species, ''C.&nbsp;prominens''. He doubted that ''C.&nbsp;punctigera'' belonged to the genus.<ref name=Levi75>{{Cite journal |last1=Levi |first1=H. W. |date=1975 |title=The American orb-weaver genera ''Larinia'', ''Cercidia'' and ''Mangora'' north of Mexico (Araneae, Araneidae) |journal=Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology |volume=147 |pages=101-135 |url=https://wsc.nmbe.ch/reference/4623 |access-date=2025-12-04 |via=World Spider Catalog }}</ref> The third species accepted by the [World Spider Catalog](/source/World_Spider_Catalog) {{as of|lc=yes|2025|December}}, ''C.&nbsp;levii'', was not described until 1985.<ref name=NMBE/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1172436}}
{{Authority control}}

Category:Araneidae genera
Category:Holarctic spiders
Category:Taxa named by Tamerlan Thorell

{{Araneidae-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cercidia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cercidia) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cercidia?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.