Metellina

Metellina
Metellina mengei
female
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Tetragnathidae
Genus: Metellina
Chamberlin & Ivie, 1941
Type species
Pachygnatha curtisi
McCook, 1894
Species

See text.

Diversity
16 species
Synonyms
  • Menosira Chikuni, 1955

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.

Metellina Spiders are also called the Autumn Spider.

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.

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.

The genus is most similar to Meta.

Life style

Metellina species are web dwellers that make their webs low in vegetation.

Name

The genus name is an alteration of the related genus Meta.

Species

As of October 2025, this genus includes sixteen species:

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Genus Metellina". World Spider Catalog. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2025-10-01.
  2. ↑ Bellmann, H. (1997). Kosmos-Atlas Spinnentiere Europas. Kosmos.
  3. ↑ 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.
  4. 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.