Leucauge

Leucauge
Orchard Spider (L. venusta)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Arachnida
Order:	Araneae
Suborder:	Araneomorphae
Family:	Tetragnathidae
Genus:	Leucauge White, 1841
Diversity
165 species

Leucauge (loo-kah-gee) is a spider genus with pantropical distribution.

The body and leg shapes and the silver, black and yellow markings of Leucauge females make identification of the genus relatively easy. They have two rows of long, slender curved hairs on the femurs of the fourth leg. In most cases the web is slanted rather than vertical and the spider rests in the middle of the web with its underside facing upwards.

Selected species

• Leucauge argyra
• Leucauge celebesiana
• Leucauge decorata
• Leucauge digna – Worthy Orb-weaver – Saint Helena^[1]
• Leucauge dromedaria – Silver Orb-weaver, Horizontal Orb-weaver
• Leucauge mabelae
• Leucauge subblanda
• Leucauge subgemmea
• Leucauge tessellata
• Leucauge undulata
• Leucauge venusta – Orchard Spider, Orchard Orb-weaver

Name

Greek leukos means "white".

Gallery

• 
  L. decorata, Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand
• 
  L. sp., Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand
• 
  L. sp., Kaeng Krachan National Park, Thailand
• 
  L. tessellata or related species
• 
  Mabel orchard spider, L. mabelae, Jamaica

Further reading

• Riparian insects and the diet of the riparian spider Leucauge celebisiana (Araneae: Tetragnathidae). PDF

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leucauge.

• Picture of L. dromedaria
• Pictures of L. mabelae
• Leucauge decorata description and picture
• Picture of Leucauge sp., about to be eaten by Anolis carolinensis