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FAMILY TETRAGNATHIDAE - Stretch Spiders, Long-jawed Spiders, Longjawed Orbweavers
The family Tetragnathidae is newly separated from the family Araneidae. Members in this family also build orb webs, but a little different from Araneidae. They build orb webs with open centre while members in family Araneidae build orb webs with dense center. Their webs are usually horizontally inclined in sunlit areas.
Species in this family are elongate spiders with long chelicerae and legs. Unlike the spiders in Araneidae family which first wrap their prey in silk after capture and then bites it, spiders in family Tetragnathidae bite first and then wrap.
Subfamily Nephilinae
- Golden Orb-Weaver
- Nephila edulis leg to leg 100mm
- The spider makes golden webs. The head is covered with silver hairs. The fangs are large and strong. The body is uniform yellow brown to silver grey. The legs are long and black with yellow joints and can span the width of an average adult hand. There is more information on the Golden Orb-Weaver page.
- Leaf Curling Spider
- Phonognatha graeffei., body length 12mm
- The Leaf Curling Spiders build web. They always build a retreat on the upper side of their web. Usually they build the retreat by a dry leaf. They stay inside their retreat, put their forelegs on their web and sense if any prey come into their web. They are brown in colour with white marking on their abdomen. More information and picture please click here.
Subfamily Tetragnathinae
- Silver Orb Spider
- Leucauge dromedaria
- Body length 10mm
- This spider have a bright silver abdomen with black patterns. Its legs and head are dark green in colour. Usually they build inclined or horizontal orb webs, but sometimes vertical webs can be seen. They wait for their prey in the middle of the web both day and night. More pictures and information here.
- Long-jawed Spider
- Tetragnatha sp., body length 12mm
- Long-jawed Spiders are also known as Four-jawed Spiders. Notice the large jaws, they are the huge chelicerae and fangs of the spider. This spider build horizontal or inclined orb web about 20cm in diameters. The spider is light yellow to white in colour, with very long and thin legs. They are usually found near the water. They build their webs at night and hide during the day. More information and pictures can be found in this page.
