''Meta bourneti'' is an orb weaving cave

spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...

closely related to '' Meta menardi''.

Morphology

Big sized spider (body length male: 10–13 mm; female: 13–16 mm), very similar in the external morphology to the congeneric '' Meta menardi.'' The

prosoma The cephalothorax, also called prosoma in some groups, is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. (The terms ''prosoma'' and ''opisthosoma'' are equivalent to ''cepha ...

is red-brown, with darker margin. Legs are red-brown. The

opisthosoma The opisthosoma is the posterior part of the body in some arthropods, behind the prosoma (cephalothorax). It is a distinctive feature of the subphylum Chelicerata (arachnids, horseshoe crabs and others). Although it is similar in most respects to a ...

is yellowish, laterally often completely black.

Ecology

Usually found in caves, in the twilight-zone. The species show a preference for cave walls and roofs, where it spin its orb-web. ''M. bourneti'' is able to consume a wide variety of prey items, including dipterans, moths, centipedes, woodlouse, and other cave-dwelling spiders.

Phenology

Female and juveniles are observed all year round. Males are rare, and usually found from August to December. The eggsac (cocoon) is white, drop-shaped, and very similar to that of ''M. menardi'' (see ). It is usually laid in the proximity of the cave entrance between October and November. The

lings hatch from the cocoon between January and February.

Distribution

It is found from

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

to Georgia and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q973871 Tetragnathidae Spiders of Europe Spiders of Africa Spiders of Georgia (country) Spiders described in 1922 Cave spiders