Tetragnatha

Taxonomy

Domain	Eukarya
Kingdom	Animalia
Phylum	Arthropoda
Subphylum	Chelicerata
Class	Arachnida
Order	Araneae
Suborder	Opisthothelae
Infraorder	Araneomorphae
Family	Tetragnathidae

Scientific Name

Tetragnatha

Common Name

long-jawed orbweaver spiders

Description

Spiders are insect relatives. These abundant and important predators have eight walking legs, six to eight eyes, and two body regions. The first body segment, called the prosoma, contains the eyes, mouthparts (chelicerae), and legs. The second region is the abdomen, which has spinnerets at its base that produce silk.

Distinctive Features

Long-jawed orb weavers build a horizontal orb web. Some species have very elongated chelicerae, leading to the name of long-jawed. They are often slender bodied and can range in color from brown to yellow to silver with multicolored markings.

Life Cycle

The life cycle of this family varies widely but most overwinter as immature adults or go through winter as eggs in an egg sac.

Prey

Various insects and other spiders.

Habitat

These spiders are usually found building their webs near and around plants and grasses.

Floral Resources

Spiders in this family are not known to feed on pollen or nectar.

Distribution

Most states coast to coast between Canada and Mexico.

Origin

Native.

Occurrence

Very Common.

Size

4-13 mm.

Color

Silver, brown, yellow.

Acknowledgements

We thank the North Central IPM Center for funding this project and members of the Great Lakes Vegetable Working Group for supplying the bulk of the content. We also acknowledge Michigan State University, Oregon State University, the Xerces Society, and USDA Agricultural Research Services for their support and contributions to the development of this smartphone app.

Some information regarding pollinators and habitat management was adapted with permission from Attracting Native Pollinators, the Xerces Society’s guide to protecting North Americas bees and butterflies. The bulletin "How to Reduce Bee Poisoning from Pesticides (PNW 591)" is used with permission, copyright Oregon State University. Information about colony collapse disorder and the value of pollinators to agriculture was excerpted from the USDA ARS website. Images used from Bugwood include the proper citation number.