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For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Chelicerates (Chelicerata) » Arachnids (Arachnida) » Spiders (Araneae) » True Spiders (Araneomorphae) » Entelegynae » Long-jawed Orb Weavers (Tetragnathidae) » Longjawed Orbweavers (Tetragnatha) » Tetragnatha versicolor

Species Tetragnatha versicolor

Long-jawed Orb Weaver - Tetragnatha versicolor - male Longjawed orb weaver from California - Tetragnatha versicolor - female Longjawed Orbweaver - Tetragnatha versicolor Long-jawed Orb Weaver - Tetragnatha versicolor - female voucher images - Tetragnatha versicolor - female Tetragnatha versicolor - female T. versicolor male - Tetragnatha versicolor - male Tetragnatha versicolor - female
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Chelicerata (Chelicerates)
Class Arachnida (Arachnids)
Order Araneae (Spiders)
Infraorder Araneomorphae (True Spiders)
No Taxon (Entelegynae)
Family Tetragnathidae (Long-jawed Orb Weavers)
Genus Tetragnatha (Longjawed Orbweavers)
Species versicolor (Tetragnatha versicolor)
Explanation of Names
Tetragnatha versicolor Walckenaer, 1841
Identification
Not diagnostic, but can separate some species:(1)
Lateral eyes closer than the medians.


Male Palp:


Epigyinum:
Range
All across the US and Canada.
Remarks
A widespread Tetragnatha species that is found throughout North America. Levi (1981) writes that the species is quite variable, "the abdominal patterns vary from completely silver to contrasting paired dorsal markings."

More notes from Levi:
Lateral eyes closer to each other than medians (not only T. versicolor); chelicerae usually shorter than carapace length (as opposed to T. elongata; recurved conductor, pointing proximally (pedipalp), is diagnostic for male.
Print References
Levi, H.W. 1981. The American orb-weaver genera Dolichognatha and Tetragnatha north of Mexico (Araneae: Araneidae, Tetragnathinae). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 149(5): 271-318. (Species Descprition)(1)
Internet References
World Spider Catalog
GBIF
iNaturalist
Bold Systems(2)
ITIS
Works Cited
1.The American Orb-Weaver Genera Dolichognatha and Tetragnatha North of Mexico
Levi, Herbert W. 1981. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 149(5):271-318.
2.BOLD: The Barcode of Life Data Systems
Contributed by Lynette Elliott on 26 August, 2008 - 8:53am
Additional contributions by tom murray, Harsi S. Parker, Nathaniel Green
Last updated 29 January, 2023 - 10:13pm

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