''Leucauge fastigata'', the pear-shaped leucauge, is a species of spiders in the family

Tetragnathidae Long-jawed orb weavers or long jawed spiders (Tetragnathidae) are a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Anton Menge in 1866. They have elongated bodies, legs, and chelicerae, and build small orb webs with an open hub with few, wide-se ...

(long-jawed orb weavers). Its native range extends from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

. Members of the species have silvery or golden spots on the abdomen. They are elongated spiders with long legs and chelicerae. They are orb web weavers, weaving small orb webs with an open hub and few, wide-set radii and spirals. The webs have no signal line and no retreat. The web is a large horizontally-placed orb structure with a diameter of more than a metre. The entire web is often suspended by several long strands of silk attached to branches and leaves nearby. This species is separated from other Leucauge spiders by its pear-shaped abdomen and its unique fourth leg. In addition to the two rows of curved hairs (characteristic of Leucauge), this leg also has a thick brush of spines which are not present in most other species of Leucauge.

References

* Etudes arachnologiques. 5e Mémoire. IX. Arachnides recueillis aux îles Philippines par MM. GA Baer et Laglaise. E Simon, Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, 1877 * Etudes arachnologiques. 6e Mémoire. X. Arachnides nouveaux ou peu connus. E Simon, Annales de la Société Entomologique de France, 1877

External links

* Tetragnathidae Spiders of Asia Spiders described in 1877 {{Tetragnathidae-stub