Alice Springs Fauna •
Long-jawed Orb Weavers (Tetragnatha)Tetragnatha sp (Long-jawed Spider)
Alice Springs Spiders > Alice Springs Spider Index
The Long-jawed Orb Weaver (genus Tetragnatha) are also commonly known as the Long-jawed Spider and the Stretch Spiders. The later name is 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, most of the species being able to run across the water surface. These photos were taken overlooking a fish pond in Alice Springs, NT.
In the following photo the Long-jawed Orb Weaver measures about 7-8 mm in body length, whilst in the series of photos 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 legs stretched out in front and behind, allowing it the ability to hide on a long slender 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/
Long-jawed Orb Weavers (Tetragnatha)Tetragnatha sp (Long-jawed Spider)
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