Belongs within: Araneoidea.
Contains: Meta, Tetragnatha.
The Tetragnathidae are a cosmopolitan family of long-legged orb-weaving spiders. Many, but not all, species have characteristically long, well-developed chelicerae. Male papi are relatively simple and lack a median apophysis (Paquin et al. 2010). The femora are often provided with dorsal trichobothria though these are absent in the genus Meta (Scharff & Coddington 1997).
Characters (from Jocqué & Dippenaar-Schoeman 2007): Small to very large; eight eyes present; legs with three tarsal claws; ecribellate; entelegyne or secondarily haplogyne; male genitalia comparatively simple, with large paracymbium and often several cymbial processes, conductor and embolus coiled apically; median apophysis absent.
<==Tetragnathidae [Meteae, Pachygnathidae] |--+--MetaBS09 | `--MetellinaBS09 | |--M. mengei (Blackwall 1870)BBM02 | |--M. merianae (Scopoli 1763)GA11 | `--M. segmentata (Clerck 1757)BS09, BH02 [=Meta segmentataV09] `--+--Leucauge Darwin in White 1841BS09, PVD10 [Leucauginae] | |--L. argyra Walckenaer 1842WA02 | |--L. celebesiana (Walck. 1837) (see below for synonymy)R13 | |--L. decorate (Blackwell 1864)HU08 | |--L. dromedaria (Thorell 1881)PVD10 [=Argyroepeira dromadariaS99; incl. Nephila argentatum Urquhart 1887NS00] | |--L. festivaJD-S07 | |--L. grataR13 [=Epeira grataR13, Argyroepeira grataR13; incl. E. coccinea Doleschall 1857R13, Meta coccineaKK90] | |--L. magnificaS94 | |--L. mariana Taczanowski 1881WA02 | `--L. venusta Walckenaer 1842WA02 `--+--TetragnatheaeSC97 | |--TetragnathaBS09 | `--CyrtognathaSC97 `--PachygnatheaeSC97 |--Pachygnatha Sund. 1823S06 | |--*P. clercki Sundevall 1823SC97 | |--P. autumnalis Keyserling 1884SC97 | |--P. degeeri Sundevall 1829VPB11 | |--P. furcillataSC97 | |--P. listeri Sund. 1830S06 | |--P. superba Rainbow 1897R97 | `--P. tristriataS06 `--Glenognatha Simon 1887SC97, HD90 |--G. centralis Chamberlin 1925HD90 |--G. emertoniHD90 |--G. foxi (McCook 1894)WCH11 |--G. heleios Hormiga & Döbel 1990HD90 |--G. iviei Levi 1980HD90 |--G. minuta Banks 1898HD90 `--G. mira Bryant 1945HD90 Tetragnathidae incertae sedis: EugnathaKK90 |--E. cylindracea Koch & Keyserling 1887KK90 |--E. cylindricaKK90 `--E. rubriventris (Doleschall 1857) [=Tetragnatha rubriventris; incl. T. lupata Koch 1872]KK90 Eucta Sim. 1881KK90 |--E. anguilla (Thorell 1877) [=Tetragnatha anguilla]KK90 `--E. caudifera Koch & Keyserling 1887KK90 Tylorida ventralisFF99 Plesiometa argyraGE05 MetleucaugeB11 |--M. kompirensis (Bösenberg & Strand 1906)B11 `--M. yunohamensis (Bösenberg & Strand 1906)B11 Dolichognatha [incl. Homalopoltys; Diphyeae, Dolichognathinae]SC20 DyschiriognathaJD-S07 DoryonychusF95 Nanometinae [Nanometidae]PVD10 |--Orsiella lageniferaFF99 |--Nanometa Simon 1908PVD10 | `--*N. gentilis (Simon 1908)PVD10 |--Eryciniolia Strand 1912PVD10 | `--*E. purpurapunctata (Urquhart 1889)PVD10 (see below for synonymy) `--Orsinome Thorell 1890PVD10 |--*O. vethi [=Pachygnatha vethi]S99 |--O. arborea (Urquhart 1890) [=Tetragnatha arborea]S99 |--O. australis Simon 1899S99 `--O. lagenifera (Urquhart 1888)PVD10 [=Linyphia lageniferaNS00] Chrysometa lancetillaL05 Argyroepeira Em. 1884SC97, T94 |--A. argyraC01 |--A. cultaK92 |--A. nigrotrivittata (Doleschall 1859) [=Epeira nigrotrivittata]T94 `--A. ventralisK92 AzilieaeSC97 Memoratrix rydei Petrunkevitch 1942S93 EometaS93 |--E. aberrans Petrunkevitch 1958S93 |--E. longipes Petrunkevitch 1958S93 |--E. robusta Petrunkevitch 1958S93 `--E. samlandica Petrunkevitch 1958S93 Priscometa tenuipes Petrunkevitch 1958S93 Macryphantes cowdeni Selden 1990S93 HomalometaP92
*Eryciniolia purpurapunctata (Urquhart 1889)PVD10 [=Linyphia purpurapunctataNS00; incl. L. nitidulum Urquhart 1890NS00, Erycina violacea Urquhart 1891NS00]
Leucauge celebesiana (Walck. 1837) [=Tetragnatha celebesiana, Argyroepeira celebesiana; incl. Meta decorata Blackw. 1864]R13
*Type species of generic name indicated
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