Tetragnatha jaculator
Tetragnatha jaculator is a species of spider in the family Tetragnathidae. It has a wide distribution across Africa, Asia, and has been introduced to the Americas, and is commonly known as Jaculator long-jawed spider.
Distribution
Tetragnatha jaculator occurs from Africa to China, India, and New Guinea, and has been introduced to the Caribbean and South America.
In Africa, it is known from Tanzania, Ivory Coast, Namibia, Uganda, Malawi, and South Africa.
Within South Africa, the species has been recorded from four provinces.
These spiders construct orb webs in grass. The species has been sampled from the Grassland and Savanna biomes at altitudes ranging from 531 to 1722 m. It has also been collected from cotton and maize fields.
Conservation
Tetragnatha jaculator is listed as Least Concern due to its wide geographical range spanning multiple continents. The species is protected in three protected areas in South Africa. There are no significant threats to the species.
Taxonomy
The species was reviewed by Okuma and Dippenaar-Schoeman in 1988. In 2021, Castanheira and Baptista synonymized T. argyroides and T. lewisi with T. jaculator. Both sexes are known and have been described.