| Long-jawed orb-weavers Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| |
| Metellina mengei | |
| |
| Tetragnatha montana, female | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Tetragnathidae Menge, 1866 |
| Diversity | |
| 45 genera, 990 species | |
| |
| blue: reported countries (WSC) green: observation hotspots (iNaturalist) | |
Long-jawed orb weavers or long jawed spiders (Tetragnathidae) are a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Anton Menge in 1866.1 They have elongated bodies, legs, and chelicerae, and build small orb webs with an open hub with few, wide-set radii and spirals with no signal line or retreat. Some species are often found in long vegetation near water.2
Systematics
As of January 2026, this family includes 45 genera and 990 species:3
- Allende Álvarez-Padilla, 2007 – Argentina, Chile
- Antillognatha Bryant, 1945 – Hispaniola
- Atelidea Simon, 1895 – India, Sri Lanka
- Azilia Keyserling, 1881 – Central America to Peru
- Chrysometa Simon, 1894 – North America, South America
- Cyrtognatha Keyserling, 1881 – North America, South America
- Dianleucauge Song & Zhu, 1994 – China
- Diphya Nicolet, 1849 – Madagascar, South Africa, Eastern Asia, Russia, South America
- Dolichognatha O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1869 – Africa, Asia, Cuba, North to South America, Ocenia
- Doryonychus Simon, 1900 – Hawaii
- Dyschiriognatha Simon, 1893 – Brazil, Malaysia, Oceania
- Glenognatha Simon, 1887 – Africa, Asia, North America, South America, French Polynesia, Marquesas Islands. Introduced to Seychelles, St. Helena, Brazil, Ecuador, Galapagos
- Harlanethis Álvarez-Padilla, Kallal & Hormiga, 2020 – Australia
- Hispanognatha Bryant, 1945 – Hispaniola
- Homalometa Simon, 1898 – Cuba, Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, Brazil, Lesser Antilles
- Iamarra Álvarez-Padilla, Kallal & Hormiga, 2020 – Australia
- Leucauge White, 1841 – Africa, Asia, Oceania, Americas
- Leucognatha Wunderlich, 1992 – Kenya, Tanzania, Azores
- Mesida Kulczyński, 1911 – Asia, Oceania
- Meta C. L. Koch, 1835 – North Africa, Tanzania, South Africa, Asia, Australia, Madeira, Russia, Cuba, North America
- Metabus O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1899 – Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mexico
- Metellina Chamberlin & Ivie, 1941 –Africa, Europe, Asia. Introduced to Canada
- Metleucauge Levi, 1980 – Asia, Russia, United States
- Mitoscelis Thorell, 1890 – Indonesia
- Mollemeta Álvarez-Padilla, 2007 – Chile
- Nanningia Zhu, Kim & Song, 1997 – China
- Nanometa Simon, 1908 – Australia, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand
- Neoprolochus Reimoser, 1927 – Indonesia
- Okileucauge Tanikawa, 2001 – China, Japan
- Orsinome Thorell, 1890 – Asia, New Guinea
- Pachygnatha Sundevall, 1823 – Africa, Asia, Europe, Cuba, North America
- Parameta Simon, 1895 – Sierra Leone
- Parazilia Lessert, 1938 – DR Congo
- Pholcipes Schmidt & Krause, 1993 – Comoros
- Pickardinella Archer, 1951 – Mexico
- Pinkfloydia Hormiga & Dimitrov, 2011 – Australia
- Schenkeliella Strand, 1934 – Sri Lanka
- Taraire Álvarez-Padilla, Kallal & Hormiga, 2020 – New Zealand
- Tawhai Álvarez-Padilla, Kallal & Hormiga, 2020 – New Zealand
- Tetragnatha Latreille, 1804 – Worldwide
- Timonoe Thorell, 1898 – Myanmar
- Tylorida Simon, 1894 – West Africa, Asia to Australia
- Wolongia Zhu, Kim & Song, 1997 – China, India
- Zhinu Kallal & Hormiga, 2018 – Japan, Korea, Taiwan
- Zygiometella Wunderlich, 1995 – Israel, Cyprus
Fossil genera
Several extinct, fossil genera have been described:4
- †Anameta Wunderlich, 2004 (Palaeogene, Bitterfield and Baltic amber)
- †Balticgnatha Wunderlich, 2004 (Palaeogene, Baltic amber)
- †Corneometa Wunderlich, 2004 (Palaeogene, Baltic amber)
- †Eometa Petrunkevitch, 1958 (Palaeogene, Baltic amber)
- †Huergnina Selden & Penney, 2003 (Cretaceous, Las Hoyas, Spain)
- †Macryphantes Selden, 1990 (Cretaceous)
- †Palaeometa Petrunkevitch, 1922 (Palaeogene, Florissant)
- †Palaeopachygnatha Petrunkevitch, 1922 (Palaeogene, Florissant)
- †Priscometa Petrunkevitch, 1958 (Palaeogene, Baltic amber)
- †Samlandicmeta Wunderlich, 2012 (Palaeogene, Baltic amber)
Formerly placed here
- Deliochus Simon, 1894 – now in Araneidae
- Eryciniolia Strand, 1912 – now a synonym of Nanometa
- Menosira Chikuni, 1955 – now a synonym of Metellina
- Nediphya Marusik & Omelko, 2017 – now a synonym of Nanometa
- Phonognatha Simon, 1894 – now in Araneidae
- Prolochus Thorell, 1895 – see Dolichognatha
See also
See also
A few common spiders in this family include:
References
References
- Menge, Anton (1866). "Preussische Spinnen. Erste Abtheilung". Schriften der Naturforschenden Gesellschaft in Danzig (N.F.). 1.
- Gould, John; García, Luis Fernando; Valdez, Jose. W. (March 2023). "Water webbing: Long‐jawed spider (Araneae, Tetragnathidae) produces webs that touch the surface of ephemeral waterbodies". Ethology. 129 (3): 182–185. doi:10.1111/eth.13355.
- "Family Tetragnathidae Menge, 1866". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2026-01-22.
- Dunlop, J. A., Penney, D. & Jekel, D. 2018. A summary list of fossil spiders and their relatives. In World Spider Catalog. Natural History Museum Bern, online at http://wsc.nmbe.ch, version 19.0, accessed on 7 October 2018.
External links
External links
- Tree of Life Tetragnathidae
- Tatragnatha sp. Large format diagnostic photographs and information
- Reference Photos: Tetragnatha laboriosa
- Venusta Orchard Spider - Family Tetragnathidae
- Pictures of Tetragnatha sp. (free for noncommercial use)