Stretch spiders

Overview

Tetragnatha is a widespread and very common genus of long-jawed orbweavers that is commonly known as stretch spiders. It occurs on every continent except Antarctica. There are currently 320 recognized species worldwide but as few as 17 species in North America north of Mexico. Eleven species have been recorded in Minnesota. Larger species are found near water in marshes and shrubby wet areas, on the banks of rivers and streams, and on the shores of lakes and ponds. Smaller species are found in fields and meadows.

Tetragnatha spiders construct a flat, circular web on a single plane which may be tilted or almost horizontal. This orb-like web is the feature that gives the family Tetragnathidae the second part of its common name. They conceal themselves by stretching out along a twig or blade of grass, virtually disappearing, and holding on by just their third pair of legs. This is the feature that gives the genus its common name.

Many sources use the common name “long-jawed orbweavers” for the genus Tetragnatha. However, that common name is already used for the family Tetragnathidae.

Description

Tetragnatha are small to medium-sized spiders. Females are 3 ⁄16″ to ⅝″(5 to 15 mm) in length not including their legs. They have a 1″ to 2″ (25 to 50 mm) legspan. Males are much smaller, ⅛″ to 5 ⁄16″ (4 to 8 mm) in length. The body is long and narrow, 2.5 to 5 times longer than wide, sometimes wider near the base. The front part of the body (carapace) may be yellow, tan, or reddish-brown. The abdomen varies from pale tan to dark brown, often with dark markings above. The legs are long and slender. The first, second, and fourth pairs of legs are very long, much longer than the body. The jaws (chelicerae) are very long, as long as the carapace in some species.

The cylindrical body, very long legs, and very large chelicerae make it easy to identify this genus. Determining the species is much harder, and even experts often limit their identification to the genus level.

Distribution

Sources

24, 30, 82, 83.

Biodiversity occurrence data published by: Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas (accessed through the Minnesota Biodiversity Atlas Portal, bellatlas.umn.edu. Accessed 8/14/2026).

Tetragnatha Latreille, 1804 in Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Abreu, C., Acero P, A., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (2026-07-17 XR). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgykv