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Tetragnathidae Tetragnatha

Tetragnatha nitens (Audouin, 1826)

Reticulated Big-jawed Spider

This species has a relatively short abdomen. The males have two colour forms – one is yellowish without a pattern; the other is greyish with a reticulated (network) pattern. See next page for another photograph showing how to recognise the female.

Length♀ 8–12 mm; ♂ 7–11 mm.
HabitatEdges of streams, ponds, and reservoirs.
BiologyThe female abdomen is slightly arched dorsally at the one-third position. The egg sacs are flat and large, and are covered by dense silk.
Type LocalityEgypt.
DistributionWorldwide, including Egypt.

Taxonomy

Type Depositories

  1. Holotype

    British Museum of Natural History (BMNH)/Natural History Museum (NHMUK), London, UK; ♀ of Tetragnatha decipiens (Castanheira et al., 2019b)

  2. Holotype

    Museo Zoologico di Storia Naturale "La Specola", Università degli Studi di Firenze (MZUF), Florence, Italy; ♀ (532) of Tetragnatha caporiaccoi (Castanheira et al., 2019b)

  3. Lectotype

    Muséum national d'histoire naturelle (MNHN), Paris, France; ♀ (4209) of Tetragnatha labialis (Castanheira, Baptista & Oliveira, 2022)

  4. Paratype(s)

    Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt am Main (SMF), Germany (data base search of type material, 11.01.2019); 2♂ 3♀ 2 Juvenile (60610-121) of Tetragnatha fuerteventurensis

  5. Syntype(s)

    Muséum national d'histoire naturelle (MNHN), Paris, France; ♂♂ ♀♀ (presumed lost) of Tetragnatha americana (Castanheira, Baptista & Oliveira, 2022)

  6. Syntype(s)

    Zoologisches Museum Hamburg (ZMH), Hamburg, Germany (data base search of type material, 11.02.2019); 3♂ 6♀ (A0002096), 1♂ 1♀ (A0002097) of Tetragnatha ferox

  7. Syntype(s)

    Museum and Institute of Zoology (MIZ), Polish Academy of Science (PAN), Warsaw, Poland; ♂♂ ♀♀ (191 specimens) (225658-225682) of Tetragnatha peruviana (Castanheira et al., 2019b)

Taxonomic references

  1. Eugnatha pelusia (Original description ♂♀)

    Audouin, 1826 Explication sommaire des planches d'arachnides de l'Égypte et de la Syrie. In: Savigny, M. J. C. L. de: "Description de l'Égypte, ou recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l'expédition de l'armée franҫ: 325, pl. 2, f. 3

  2. Tetragnatha gracilis (Original description ♀)

    Lucas, 1838 Arachnides, Myriapodes et Thysanoures: 43, pl. 6, f. 8

  3. Tetragnatha deinognatha (Original description ♂)

    Walckenaer, 1841 Histoire naturelle des Insects. Aptères. Tome deuxième: 478 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.61095

  4. Tetragnatha (Deinagnatha) dandridgei (Original description ♂)

    White, in Dieffenbach, 1843 Travels in New Zealand with contributions to the geography, geology, botany, and natural history of that country: 271 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.25939

  5. Deinagnatha dandridgei (♂)

    White, 1846 Description of a new genus of Arachnida, with notes on two other species of spiders: 180, pl. 2, f. 5 doi:10.1080/037454809494407

  6. Tetragnatha labialis (Original description ♂)

    Nicolet, 1849 Aracnidos: 520 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.16172

  7. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Keyserling, 1865 Beiträge zur Kenntniss der Orbitelae Latr: 845, pl. 21, f. 1-4

  8. Dinognatha [dandridgei] (unjustified emendation of generic name)

    Thorell, 1869 On European spiders: 63

  9. Tetragnatha molesta (Original description ♂)

    O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872 General list of the spiders of Palestine and Syria, with descriptions of numerous new species, and characters of two new genera: 295 doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1872.tb00489.x

  10. Tetragnatha gulosa (Original description ♂♀)

    L. Koch, 1872a Die Arachniden Australiens, nach der Natur beschrieben und abgebildet [Erster Theil, Lieferung 3-7]: 176, pl. 14, f. 6, pl. 15, f. 1 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.121660

  11. Tetragnatha ejuncida (Original description ♂)

    Simon, 1874a Les arachnides de France: 160

  12. Tetragnatha peruviana (Original description ♂♀)

    Taczanowski, 1878b Les Aranéides du Pérou central: 142, pl. 1, f. 1

  13. Tetragnatha typica (Original description ♂♀)

    Urquhart, 1890c Descriptions of new species of Araneidae: 251, pl. 17, f. 6-7

  14. Tetragnatha vicina (Original description ♂)

    Simon, 1898i On the spiders of the island of St Vincent: 869 doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1898.tb01390.x

  15. Tetragnatha galapagoensis (Original description ♂♀)

    Banks, 1902c Papers from the Hopkins Stanford Galapagos Expedition; 1898-1899: 61, pl. 1, f. 10

  16. Tetragnatha antillana (♂♀)

    F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1903a Arachnida - Araneida and Opiliones: 433, pl. 41, f. 5-6

  17. Tetragnatha americana (Original description ♀)

    Simon, 1905e Etude sur les arachnides recueillis en Patagonie par le Dr: 10

  18. Tetragnatha ferox crossae (Original description ♂♀)

    Hogg, 1911 On some New Zealand spiders: 300, f. 92 doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1911.tb01930.x

  19. Tetragnatha nitens (Synonym of Tetragnatha dandridgei)

    Dalmas, 1917a Araignées de Nouvelle-Zélande: 365

  20. Tetragnatha aptans (Original description ♂)

    Chamberlin, 1920b South American Arachnida, chiefly from the Guano Islands of Peru: 41, pl. 4, f. 7-8

  21. Tetragnatha antillana (♂♀)

    Seeley, 1928 Revision of the spider genus Tetragnatha: 105, pl. 1, f. 1-4

  22. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Simon, 1929 Les arachnides de France. Synopsis générale et catalogue des espèces françaises de l'ordre des Araneae. Tome VI. 3e partie: 646, 748, f. 994-995

  23. Deinognatha [dandridgei] (unjustified emendation of generic name)

    Strand, 1929 Zoological and palaeontological nomenclatorical notes: 18

  24. Cyrtognatha producta (Original description )

    Franganillo, 1930 Arácnidos de Cuba: Mas arácnidos nuevos de la Isla de Cuba: 17

  25. Tetragnatha antillana (♂♀)

    Petrunkevitch, 1930a The spiders of Porto Rico: 281, f. 141-147

  26. Tetragnatha decipiens (Original description ♀)

    Badcock, 1932 Reports of an expedition to Paraguay and Brazil in 1926–7, supported by the Trustees of the Percy Sladen Memorial Fund and the Executive Committee of the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland: 13, f. 9 doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.1932.tb00987.x

  27. Tetragnatha steckleri (Original description ♂♀)

    Gertsch & Ivie, 1936 Descriptions of new American spiders: 19, f. 31-33

  28. Tetragnatha apheles (♀; misidentified per Chickering, 1957d: 306, 333, sub Tetragnatha antillana)

    Chamberlin & Ivie, 1936a New spiders from Mexico and Panama: 64

  29. Tetragnatha seminola (Original description ♂)

    Gertsch, 1936a Further diagnoses of new American spiders: 10, f. 22-23

  30. Tetragnatha elmora (Original description ♀)

    Chamberlin & Ivie, 1942a A hundred new species of American spiders: 62, f. 160

  31. Tetragnatha festina (Original description ♂; ♀ f. 40 see Tetragnatha tenuissima)

    Bryant, 1945a The Argiopidae of Hispaniola: 407, f. 38-39, 41

  32. Tetragnatha nitens (Synonym of Tetragnatha nitens crossae)

    Parrott, 1946 A systematic catalogue of New Zealand spiders: 82

  33. Tetragnatha tullgreni (Original description ♀; preoccupied by Lessert, 1915, see Tetragnatha tullgreni)

    Caporiacco, 1947a Diagnosi preliminari de specie nuove di aracnidi della Guiana Brittanica raccolte dai professori Beccari e Romiti: 24

  34. Tetragnatha antillana (Synonym of Tetragnatha festina and T. haitiensis [rejected by Castanheira et al., 2019b: 467, see Chickering, 1957b The genus Tetragnatha (Araneae, Argiopidae) in Jamaica, B: 2, 12

  35. Tetragnatha antillana (♂♀, Synonym of Tetragnatha eremita [rejected by Castanheira et al., 2019b: 467, see 

    Chickering, 1957d The genus Tetragnatha (Araneae, Argiopidae) in Panama: 306, f. 1-6

  36. Tetragnatha antillana (♂)

    Bücherl, 1959 Fauna aracnológica e alguns aspectos ecológicos da ilha de Trindade: 293, f. 14-18

  37. Tetragnatha antillana (Synonym of Cyrtognatha producta)

    Bonnet, 1959 Bibliographia araneorum. Analyse méthodique de toute la littérature aranéologique jusqu'en 1939. Tome II. Systématique des araignées (Étude par ordre alphabétique) (5me partie: T-Z): 4318

  38. Tetragnatha nitens (♂)

    Wiehle, 1962 Eine Unterart von Tetragnatha nitens ([Savigny &] Audouin) aus Sardinien (Arach: 377, f. 6a, 7-8, 12-13

  39. Tetragnatha antillana (♂♀)

    Chickering, 1962 The genus Tetragnatha (Araneae, Argiopidae) in Jamaica, W: 428, f. 1-6

  40. Tetragnatha hotingchiehi (Original description ♂)

    Schenkel, 1963 Ostasiatische Spinnen aus dem Muséum d'Histoire naturelle de Paris: 127, f. 75a-e

  41. Tetragnatha nitens (♀)

    Okuma, 1968a Two spiders new to fauna of Japan: 40, f. 9-16 doi:10.2476/asjaa.21.40

  42. Tetragnatha nitens (♂)

    Okuma, 1968b Preliminary survey on the spider-fauna of the paddy fields in Thailand: 102, f. 7A-E

  43. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Yin, 1976 [A study on tetragnathids (Araneae: Tetragnathidae) from rice fields]: 123, pl. VIII.1-12

  44. Tetragnatha nitens (♂)

    Song et al., 1976 [The common species of Tetragnatha from the paddy fields of Zhejiang province]: 39, f. 4A-H

  45. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Song, 1980 [Farm Spiders]: 122, f. 63a-h

  46. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀, Synonym of Tetragnatha andina [rejected by Castanheira et al., 2019b: 467, see 

    Levi, 1981a The American orb-weaver genera Dolichognatha and Tetragnatha north of Mexico (Araneae: Araneidae, Tetragnathinae): 291, f. 23-34, pl. 5a-b

  47. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Okuma, 1983 New synonymies and new records of some cosmopolitan species of the genus Tetragnatha (Araneae: Tetragnathidae): 75, f.4A-L

  48. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Hu, 1984 The Chinese spiders collected from the fields and the forests: 146, f. 150-151

  49. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Guo, 1985 [Farm spiders from Shaanxi Province]: 89, f. 2-36.1-7

  50. Tetragnatha nitens (♂)

    Yaginuma, 1986a Spiders of Japan in color (new ed: 135, f. 72.1

  51. Tetragnatha nitens (♂, Synonym of Tetragnatha hotingchiehi)

    Song, 1987 Spiders from agricultural regions of China (Arachnida: Araneae): 185, f. 144

  52. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Okuma, 1987 A revision of the Australasian species of the genus Tetragnatha (Araneae, Tetragnathidae): 84, f. 31A-I

  53. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Zhang, 1987 [Farm spiders from Hebei Province]: 96, f. 78.1-6

  54. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Okuma & Dippenaar-Schoeman, 1988 Tetragnatha (Araneae: Tetragnathidae) in the collection of the Plant Protection Research Institute, Pretoria with a description of a new species: 231, f. 9A-K

  55. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Vungsilabutr, 1988 The spider genus Tetragnatha in the paddy fields of Thailand (Araneae: Tetragnathidae): 72, f. 6A-I

  56. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Davies, 1988b An illustrated guide to the genera of orb-weaving spiders in Australia: 282, f. 8

  57. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Okuma, 1988c A revision of the genus Tetragnatha Latreille (Araneae, Tetragnathidae) of Asia, Part II: 207, f. 19A-K

  58. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Feng, 1990 Spiders of China in colour: 107, f. 82.1-11

  59. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Chen & Gao, 1990 The Sichuan farmland spiders in China: 83, f. 105a-e

  60. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Chen & Zhang, 1991 Fauna of Zhejiang: Araneida: 127, f. 121.1-13

  61. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Okuma, 1992 Notes on the Neotropical and Mexican species of Tetragnatha (Araneae: Tetragnathidae) with descriptions of three new species: 235, f. 15A-L

  62. Tetragnatha fuerteventurensis (Original description ♂♀)

    Wunderlich, 1992a Die Spinnen-Fauna der Makaronesischen Inseln: Taxonomie, Ökologie, Biogeographie und Evolution: 363, f. 333-340

  63. Tetragnatha nitens (♂)

    Zhao, 1993 Spiders in the cotton fields in China: 276, f. 132a-c

  64. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Okuma et al., 1993 Illustrated Monograph of the Rice Field Spiders of Bangladesh. Institute of Postgraduate Studies in Agriculture (Salna, Gazipur, Bangladesh): 45, f. 41A-G

  65. Tetragnatha caporiaccoi (replacement name for Tetragnatha tullgreni Caporiacco, 1947)

    Platnick, 1993c Advances in spider taxonomy 1988-1991, with synonymies and transfers 1940-1980: 381

  66. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Barrion & Litsinger, 1994 Taxonomy of rice insect pests and their arthropod parasites and predators: 324, f. 1715-1717, 1742-1744

  67. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 Riceland spiders of South and Southeast Asia: 518, f. 319a-f, 320a-i

  68. Tetragnatha nitens (♂)

    Zhao, 1995 Araneida: 994, f. 471a-f

  69. Tetragnatha nitens (♂)

    Song, Zhu & Chen, 1999 The spiders of China: 222, f. 126Q-R, 128G-H

  70. Tetragnatha nitens (♂)

    Song, Zhu & Chen, 2001 The Fauna of Hebei, China: Araneae: 172, f. 101A-H

  71. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Zhu et al., 2002 The Tetragnatha spiders familiar to paddy field from China: 84, f. 7A-N

  72. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Namkung, 2002 The spiders of Korea: 218, f. 18.5a-d

  73. Tetragnatha nitens (♂)

    Yoo & Kim, 2002a Studies on basic pattern and evolution of male palpal organ (Arachnida: Araneae): 25, f. 13

  74. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Namkung, 2003 The Spiders of Korea, 2nd: 220, f. 18.5a-d

  75. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Zhu, Song & Zhang, 2003 Fauna Sinica: Invertebrata Vol. 35: Arachnida: Araneae: Tetragnathidae: 164, f. 85A-G, 86A-G

  76. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Heinrichs & Barrion, 2004 Rice-feeding insects and selected natural enemies in West Africa: biology, ecology, identification: 206, f. 573-576

  77. Tetragnatha nitens (♂)

    Tanikawa, 2007c An identification guide to the Japanese spiders of the families Araneidae, Nephilidae and Tetragnathidae: 111, f. 412-414, 881-884

  78. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Kim, Kim & Lee, 2008 Taxonomy of Korean Tetragnathidae (Arachnida: Araneae): 44, f. 23, 23.1-2

  79. Tetragnatha nitens (♂)

    Tanikawa, 2009 Hersiliidae: 419, f. 123-126

  80. Tetragnatha fuerteventurensis (♂♀)

    Crespo et al., 2009a Spiders (Araneae) from Porto Santo (Madeira, Portugal): additions to the current knowledge: 472, f. 9

  81. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀, Synonym of Tetragnatha fuerteventurensis)

    Wunderlich, 2011 Extant and fossil spiders (Araneae): 210, f. 16-29

  82. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Zhu & Zhang, 2011 Spider Fauna of Henan: Arachnida: Araneae: 181, f. 125A-G, 126A-G

  83. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Yin et al., 2012 Fauna Hunan: Araneae in Hunan, China: 461, f. 210a-i

  84. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Kim & Lee, 2013 Arthropoda: Arachnida: Araneae: Mimetidae, Uloboridae, Theridiosomatidae, Tetragnathidae, Nephilidae, Pisauridae, Gnaphosidae: 60, f. 38A-E

  85. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Najim, 2019 The first record of long-jawed spider Tetragnatha nitens (Araneae: Tetragnathidae) from Iraq: 11, f. 2A-L, 3A-H

  86. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀, Synonym of Tetragnatha caporiaccoi [= T. tullgreni Caporiacco, 1947], T. decipiens and T. peruviana)

    Castanheira et al., 2019b Contributions to the taxonomy of the long-jawed orb-weaving spider genus Tetragnatha (Araneae, Tetragnathidae) in the Neotropical region, with comments on the morphology of the chelicerae: 486, f. 14A-J, 15A-L, 16A-F, 20E doi:10.3897/zse.95.36762

  87. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Morano, 2020 La familia Tetragnathidae Menge, 1866 (Araneae) en el área ibero-balear: 113, f. 85-90

  88. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Dippenaar-Schoeman et al., 2020t The Tetragnathidae of South Africa: 39, 12 f. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7578068

  89. Tetragnatha nitens (♂)

    Matsuki, Mitamura & Baba, 2021 [The first record of Tetragnatha nitens from Fukushima Prefecture, Japan]: 83, f. 1A-D

  90. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Yağmur & Tutar, 2021 Tetragnatha nitens (Savigny, 1825) (Araneae: Tetragnathidae) a new species for the spider fauna of Turkey: 158, f. 1-16

  91. Tetragnatha nitens (♂)

    Zamani et al., 2021b New data on the spider fauna of Iran (Arachnida: Araneae), part VIII: 285, f. 9A-D doi:10.31610/zsr/2021.30.2.279

  92. Tetragnatha nitens (♂)

    Cargnelutti et al., 2022 Together but not intertwined: differences in sexual behavior between two sympatric and synchronic spider species, including one new synonymy (Araneae: Tetragnathidae: Tetragnatha): 72, f. 4A-G doi:10.1636/JoA-S-21-006

  93. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀, Synonym of Tetragnatha americana and T. labialis)

    Castanheira, Baptista & Oliveira, 2022 Five new species of the long-jawed orb-weaving spider genus Tetragnatha (Araneae, Tetragnathidae) in South America, with a key to the species from Argentina and Brazil: 197, f. 12A-B, 13A-C doi:10.3897/evolsyst.6.91418

  94. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Cianferoni, Graziani & Ceccolini, 2023 Massive web aggregation of Tetragnatha nitens (Audouin, 1826) in the lagoon of Orbetello (Tuscany, Italy) (Arachnida: Araneae: Tetragnathidae): 160, f. 1a-f, 2a-c, f

  95. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Sampathkumar et al., 2023 Distributional notes on the long-jawed spider Tetragnatha nitens (Audouin, 1826) (Araneae, Tetragnathidae) from India: 819, f. 1A-D, 2A-H, 3A-D, 4A-F doi:10.5958/0974-4576.2023.00151.2

  96. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Baert et al., 2023 Updated checklist, origin, distribution, literature and genital drawings of the spiders of the Galápagos Islands: 30, f. 109A-F

  97. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Dippenaar-Schoeman et al., 2023a The Tetragnathidae of South Africa: 42, f. 1-9 doi:10.5281/zenodo.7513261

  98. Tetragnatha nitens (♂♀)

    Lecigne, Moutaouakil & Lips, 2025 Contribution to the knowledge of the spider fauna of Morocco (Arachnida: Araneae) – second note: 146, f. 90C-E

Distribution of Tetragnatha nitens (Audouin, 1826)

Worldwide, including Egypt.

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