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Long-jawed Orb Weaver Spiders - Tetragnatha spp. Arachnida (Arachnids) / Araneae (Spiders) / Family: Tetragnathidae (Longjawed Orb Weavers) / Tetragnatha Also commonly known as large-jawed orb weavers, Tetragnathid orb weavers, or grass spiders. Live adult spiders photographed at DuPage County, Illinois, USA. |
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Long-jawed orb weavers are fairly easy to identify by their huge,
powerful jaws, or chelicerae, and long, slender abdomen. Like the other
family of orb weavers, the Araneidae, these spiders have eight eyes and
3 claws on each tarsus. There are about 25 species in North America. The
Venusta Orchard spider, a very common woodland arachnid, is a member of
this family. Its abdomen is not nearly as slender as the spiders
pictured here. Habitat: Meadows and marshes, woodland edges. Food: insects. Most members of this family do not build vertical webs, they are usually tilted and sometimes close to horizontal. In some species, only the spiderlings produce webs. The orchard spiders build their webs in shrubs or trees. |
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This lovely female spider has managed to capture a damselfly for dinner. Many species in this family leave a hole in the center of their orb web, beside which they wait, and through which they can dart quickly to service clients on either side. Like most venomous spiders, they deliver a dose to immobilize their prey and begin the digestion process by liquifying the internal structures. Spiders are only capable of ingesting liquids. |
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