Metellina
| Metellina | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Metellina mengei | |
 | |
| female | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Tetragnathidae |
| Genus: | Metellina Chamberlin & Ivie, 1941[1] |
| Type species | |
| Pachygnatha curtisi McCook, 1894 | |
| Species | |
| Diversity[1] | |
| 16 species | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Metellina is a genus of tetragnathid spiders that occurs mostly in Eurasia, with two species found in North America. M. segmentata was introduced to Canada.
Some researchers consider this genus to belong to a distinct family, the Metidae.
M. segmentata is probably the most abundant orb-weaving spider of Germany.[2]
Metellina Spiders are also called the Autumn Spider[3].
Description
Metellina species have an abdomen longer than wide, usually without tubercles. The secondary eyes have a canoe-shaped tapetum. The posterior lateral eyes are located on a single tubercle.[4]
The epigynal plate is flat with posterior-facing copulatory openings. The fertilization ducts originate near the anterior area of the spermathecae with a mass of accessory glands near the copulatory ducts. The palpal patella has one macroseta.[4]
Life style
Metellina species are web dwellers that make their webs low in vegetation.[4]
Name
The genus name is an alteration of the related genus Meta.
Species
Metellina sp. from Belgium
Metellina sp. from Norway
M. merianae
As of October 2025, this genus includes sixteen species:[1]
- Metellina barreti (Kulczyński, 1899) – Madeira
- Metellina curtisi (McCook, 1894) – North America (type species)
- Metellina gertschi (Lessert, 1938) – DR Congo
- Metellina haddadi Marusik & Larsen, 2018 – South Africa
- Metellina kirgisica (Bakhvalov, 1974) – Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, China
- Metellina longipalpis (Pavesi, 1883) – Ethiopia
- Metellina mengei (Blackwall, 1869) – Europe to Caucasus, Iran, Russia (Europe to Altai)
- Metellina merianae (Scopoli, 1763) – Europe, Caucasus, Turkey, Iran, Russia (Europe to Central Asia)
- Metellina merianopsis (Tullgren, 1910) – Tanzania
- Metellina mimetoides Chamberlin & Ivie, 1941 – North America
- Metellina minima (Denis, 1953) – Canary Islands
- Metellina orientalis (Spassky, 1932) – Turkey, Armenia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan
- Metellina ornata (Chikuni, 1955) – Russia (Far East), China, Korea, Japan
- Metellina segmentata (Clerck, 1757) – Europe, Morocco, Turkey, Israel, Caucasus, Russia (Europe to South Siberia), Kazakhstan, Iran, China, Japan. Introduced to Canada
- Metellina tangchao Lin & Yang, 2023 – China
- Metellina villiersi (Denis, 1955) – Guinea
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Genus Metellina". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
- ↑ Bellmann, H. (1997). Kosmos-Atlas Spinnentiere Europas. Kosmos.
- ↑ Henriques, Sergio; Sivell, Olga; Natural History Museum Genome Acquisition Lab; Darwin Tree of Life Barcoding collective; Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life programme; Wellcome Sanger Institute Scientific Operations: DNA Pipelines collective; Tree of Life Core Informatics collective; Darwin Tree of Life Consortium (2023). "The genome sequence of the Autumn Spider, Metellina segmentata (Clerck, 1757)". Wellcome Open Research. 8: 221. doi:10.12688/wellcomeopenres.19435.1. ISSN 2398-502X. PMC 11519618. PMID 39473876.
- 1 2 3 4 Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2023). The Tetragnathidae of South Africa. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 28. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7513261.
This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.