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Leucauge

Leucauge is a spider genus of long-jawed orb weavers, with over 160 species and fully pantropical distribution.

Description

The body and leg shapes and the silver, black and yellow markings of Leucauge females make identification of the genus relatively easy. They have two rows of long, slender curved hairs on the femurs of the fourth leg. In most cases the web is slanted rather than vertical and the spider rests in the middle of the web with its underside facing upwards.

Detailed description

Leucauge species have a total body size of 10-20 mm.

The carapace is slightly longer than wide. There are eight eyes arranged in two rows with lateral eyes contiguous. The chelicerae are variable, being short and stout in some species or long and well developed with rows of large teeth in males. The endites are parallel and the sternum is longer than wide.

The abdomen is variable, being elongated and cylindrical in some species and extending caudally beyond the spinnerets. The abdomen displays distinct green, silver, white and bronze patterns. The spinnerets are unmodified with anterior and posterior pairs similar in size.

The legs have three claws and are long and slender. The posterior femora have a double fringe of trichobothria on the prolateral surface of the basal half.

Life style

Leucauge species spin large orb-webs both in the morning and during the day, sometimes reusing the frame and anchor lines. The inclination of the webs varies from vertical to horizontal but is most often at a sharp angle to the ground. The hub is open with clear, widely spaced viscid spirals.

Sometimes webs have more than one occupant, with as many as three spiders sharing a single web, each using a part of it. They are frequently found in damp places such as marshes or rainforest but are not restricted to damp areas.

Name

Greek λευκός (leukos) means "white", while αὐγή (augḗ) means "dawn," so called because Leucauge spiders build their first web before dawn.

Taxonomy

The genus was first documented in Scottish zoologist Adam White's 1841 Description of new or little known Arachnida. Charles Darwin had suggested the name of the genus and collected the first specimen in May 1832, later named L. argyrobapta.

A vague description and the loss of the only specimen left the genus ill-defined. Leucauge developed into something of a wastebasket taxon containing 300 loosely related species, until research in the year 2010 resolved L. argyrobapta as a synonym of the quite common L. venusta and allowed revision and reclassing of the genus. However, a 2018 paper restored Leucauge argyrobapta as a separate species.

Species

The World Spider Catalog accepted 174 species and eight subspecies in the genus .

This number includes:

References

Further reading

  • "Riparian insects and the diet of the riparian spider Leucauge celebisiana (Araneae: Tetragnathidae)". PDF

External links