The Long-jawed Orb-weavers (belonging to the genus Tetragnatha) are found all over the world. First described by Pierre André Latreille in 1804, there are hundreds of species within the genus. Usually found near water, many can run over water.
They are also commonly known as Stretch Spiders, in reference to their elongated body form and their ability to hide on blades of grass or similar elongated substrates by stretching their front legs forward and the others legs behind them.
- 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 Matthew Connors, member of Entomology Australia “Invertebratology” Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/507004496955277/
- Tetragnatha, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetragnatha
- Long-jawed Orb Weavers (Genus Tetragnatha), iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/47550-Tetragnatha
SpidersIndex of Spider Images Spiders in Australia Araneidae — Orb Weavers Arkys Australian Huntsman Spider Barking Spider Black House Spider Carepalxis sp Celaenia sp Crab Spiders Deinopidae — Net-casting Spiders Dolomedes sp Dolophones sp Flower Spiders Hackled Orbweavers (Uloboridae) Jewel Spider Jumping Spider Long Jawed Spider (Tetragnatha sp) Lynx Spider (Oxyopes) Mangrovia albida Maratus volans Missulena occatoria (Red-headed Mouse Spider) Miturgidae Nicodamidae (Red and Black Spider) Ogre-faced Net-casting Spider Poltys sp (Twig Spider) Redback Spider Scorpion-tailed Spider (Arachnura higginsi) Thomisidae Tiger Spider (Trichonephila plumipes) White-spotted Swift Spider (Nyssus albopunctatus) Wolf Spider