Tetragnatha ceylonica

Tetragnatha ceylonica is a species of spider in the family Tetragnathidae. It occurs widely across Asia and parts of Africa, and is commonly known as Ceylonica long-jawed spider.

Distribution

Tetragnatha ceylonica is widely distributed across Mozambique, South Africa, Seychelles, India, Thailand, Philippines, New Guinea, and Japan.
In South Africa, the species has been sampled from four provinces.

Habitat and ecology

The webs of Tetragnatha ceylonica are generally found on trees where the orb web is supported by a twig running parallel to the median portion of the web. The spider always rests with its legs stretched out on the supporting twig.
In South Africa, the species has been sampled from most floral biomes except the Succulent Karoo and Desert biomes, at altitudes ranging from 15 to 1703 m.

Conservation

Tetragnatha ceylonica is listed as Least Concern due to its wide geographical range spanning multiple countries across Asia and Africa. The species is protected in several reserves in South Africa, including Ndumo Game Reserve, De Hoop Nature Reserve, Bontebok National Park, and Swartberg Nature Reserve. There are no significant threats to the species.

Taxonomy

The species was reviewed by Okuma and Dippenaar-Schoeman in 1988. Both sexes are known and have been described.