Biology:Metellina
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.[citation needed]
M. segmentata is probably the most abundant orb-weaving spider of Germany.[1]
Metellina Spiders are also called the Autumn Spider[2].
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.[3]
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.[3]
The genus is most similar to Meta.[3]
Life style
Metellina species are web dwellers that make their webs low in vegetation.[3]
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[update], this genus includes sixteen species:[4]
- 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
- ↑ 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. PMID 39473876.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 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.
- ↑ "Genus Metellina". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. https://wsc.nmbe.ch/genus/3292. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
Wikidata ☰ Q1556083 entry
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