Long-jawed orb weaver

Description

Tetragnatha versicolor is a species of long-jawed orb weaver in the spider family Tetragnathidae. It is found throughout North America, Canada, Central America, and Cuba, but are most common in the United States. T. versicolor is heavily concentrated in New England and the west coast in states like California and Washington. T. versicolor is considered a habitat generalist, and can thrive in many different environments. While they can be found in places like Grasslands, Wetlands, Forests, etc., they prefer dryer areas like normal trees and shrubs. Unlike other spiders in the genus Tetragnatha, T. versicolor will rarely reside near aquatic environments. T. versicolor will typically be colored dark yellow or pale orange and average around 5 mm for males and 6.5 mm for females in length, which is very small for a spider. They are much longer than they are wide, making them very distinct. In addition, T. versicolor can be distinguished from other spiders in Tetragnatha by the distinct separation of the anterior/posterior eyes and the appearance of their reproductive organs. As an orb weaver spider, T. versicolor creates a web to hunt for prey. It will wait at night for prey to stumble into its web and use vibrational signals throughout the web to sense trapped prey. In terms of mating behavior, T. versicolor lacks a distinct courting ritual and will mate with any others in the proximity. Mating behavior is heavily affected by female mating history. In terms of interactions with humans, the bite of T. versicolor is venomous, but not known to cause significant harm. T. versicolor is generally a very small spider with males being slightly smaller than females. Males will average around 5 mm in length and 1.3 mm in width while females will average around 6.5 mm in length and 1.5 mm in width. The carapace of male T. versicolor will typically be colored dark yellow or pale orange with markings radiating dorsally. The male's lateral eyes are closer together than their median eyes.The distance between median and lateral eyes is rarely the same. Like the carapace, the legs are colored dark yellow or pale orange with a silver abdomen dorsally along the sides. The male's conductor has a thick rounded tip and a small point near the base of the structure. Females follow the same coloration patterns and eye spacing but have different reproductive structures. Their epigynum is short, broad, and concave and found on the posterior.