Alice Springs Fauna •
Alice Springs SpidersAustralian Golden Orb Weaver Australian Huntsman Spiders (Sparassidae) Backobourkines Banded Garden Spider Beautiful Badge Huntsman (Neosparassus calligaster) Cytaea sp Desert Huntsman Spider Elegant Water Spider (Dolomedes facetus) Hackled Orb-weavers Hortophora sp Long-jawed Orb Weavers Long-tailed St. Andrew’s Cross Spider Lynx Spider (Oxyopidae) Miturgidae (Elassoctenus spp) Red-headed Mouse Spider Redback Spider (Latrodectus hasselti) Wall Spider (Oecobius sp)
The Long-jawed Orb Weaver (genus Tetragnatha) are also commonly known as the Long-jawed Spider and the Stretch Spiders. The later name in reference to their elongated body form and their ability to hide along blades of grass, stems and twigs, by stretching their front legs forward and the others behind them.
They are usually found near water, many species being able to run across the water surface. These photos were taken overlooking a fish pond in Alice Springs, NT.
The following Long-jawed Orb Weaver is about 7-8 mm in body length, whilst in the series following the spider is only about 3-4 mm in body length.
In the following photo you can see the spider in the classic elongated body pose, with its legs stretched out in front and behind, allowing it the ability to hide on a long leaf blade.
Check out our Fauna section on Spiders | Long-jawed Spider (Tetragnatha sp)
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Subphylum: Chelicerata
- Class: Arachnida
- Order: Araneae
- Suborder: Araneomorphae
- Infraorder: Entelegynae
- Superfamily: Araneoidea
- Family: Tetragnathidae
- Genus: Tetragnatha
- Species:
- at time of writing, currently 306 named species
Footnote & References
- Many thanks for ID to Narelle Murphy, member of Australian spider identification page, Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/australianspidereducation/
Alice Springs SpidersAustralian Golden Orb Weaver Australian Huntsman Spiders (Sparassidae) Backobourkines Banded Garden Spider Beautiful Badge Huntsman (Neosparassus calligaster) Cytaea sp Desert Huntsman Spider Elegant Water Spider (Dolomedes facetus) Hackled Orb-weavers Hortophora sp Long-jawed Orb Weavers Long-tailed St. Andrew’s Cross Spider Lynx Spider (Oxyopidae) Miturgidae (Elassoctenus spp) Red-headed Mouse Spider Redback Spider (Latrodectus hasselti) Wall Spider (Oecobius sp)
Alice Springs FaunaAlice Springs Native Bees Alice Springs Beetles Alice Springs Birds Alice Springs Gastropods (Gastropoda) Alice Springs Insects Alice Springs Marsupials Alice Springs Reptiles Alice Springs Spiders
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