Tetragnatha nitens

Nitens Long-jawed Spider
female
male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Subphylum:	Chelicerata
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Infraorder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Tetragnathidae
Genus:	Tetragnatha
Species:	T. nitens
Binomial name
Tetragnatha nitens (Audouin, 1826) [1]
Synonyms [2]
T. nitens synonyms Eugnatha nitensAudouin, 1826 Eugnatha pelusiaAudouin, 1826 T. gracilisLucas, 1838 T. pelusiaWalckenaer, 1841 T. deinognathaWalckenaer, 1841 Deinagnatha dandridgeiWhite, 1846 T. extensaNicolet, 1849 T. labialisNicolet, 1849 T. molestaO. Pickard-Cambridge, 1872 T. feroxL. Koch, 1872 T. gulosaL. Koch, 1872 T. ejuncidaSimon, 1874 T. peruvianaTaczanowski, 1878 T. typicaUrquhart, 1890 T. antillanaSimon, 1898 T. vicinaSimon, 1898 T. galapagoensisBanks, 1902 T. americanaSimon, 1905 T. dandridgeiChamberlin, 1920 T. aptansChamberlin, 1920 Cyrtognatha productaFranganillo, 1930 T. decipiensBadcock, 1932 T. steckleriGertsch & Ivie, 1936 T. seminolaGertsch, 1936 T. aphelesChamberlin & Ivie, 1936 T. elmoraChamberlin & Ivie, 1942 T. festinaBryant, 1945 T. tullgreniCaporiacco, 1947 T. eremitaBücherl, 1959 T. hotingchiehiSchenkel, 1963 T. andinaOkuma, 1983 T. fuerteventurensisWunderlich, 1992 T. caporiaccoiPlatnick, 1993

Tetragnatha nitens is a species of long-jawed orb weaver in the spider family Tetragnathidae. It is found in Asia, has been introduced into the Americas, Madeira, Canary Islands, Europe, Egypt, Madagascar, Pacific islands, and New Zealand. ^[2]

Tetragnatha nitens is a species of spider in the family Tetragnathidae. ^[2] It has a cosmotropical distribution and is commonly known as Nitens long-jawed spider. ^[3]

Distribution

Tetragnatha nitens has a cosmotropical distribution across tropical and subtropical Asia and has been introduced to the Americas, Macaronesia, the Mediterranean, Saint Helena, South Africa, Madagascar, Pacific Islands, and New Zealand. In South Africa, the species is known from six provinces, including five protected areas, at altitudes ranging from sea level to 1399 m. ^[3]

Habitat and ecology

These spiders construct orb webs in vegetation. At Roodeplaatdam, specimens were sampled during the day from trees next to the dam. The species has been sampled from Fynbos, Grassland, Indian Ocean Coastal Belt, Savanna, and Thicket biomes. ^[3]

Description

See also: Glossary of spider terms

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Conservation

Tetragnatha nitens is listed as Least Concern due to its wide geographical range spanning multiple continents. The species has been sampled from protected areas such as Roodeplaatdam Nature Reserve and Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa. There are no significant threats to the species. ^[3]

Etymology

The specific epithet, nitens, describes the spider as "shining" (brillante). ^[1]

Taxonomy

The species was revised by Okuma and Dippenaar-Schoeman in 1988. It was originally described from Egypt. ^[3]

References

1. Audouin, V. (1826). "Explication sommaire des planches d'arachnides de l'Égypte et de la Syrie". Histoire Naturelle. 1 (4): 1–339.
2. "Tetragnatha nitens (Audouin, 1826)". World Spider Catalog. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
3. Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2023). The Tetragnathidae of South Africa. Version 2. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 42. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7513261.  This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.