Glenognatha is a genus of long-jawed orb-weavers that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1887. It was considerably revised in 2016.
Distribution
Species in this genus are found in North America, Central America, Asia, South America, the Caribbean, Africa, on the French Polynesian Islands, and Saint Helena.
Description
Glenognatha species have a total length of 3-5 mm for both females and males.
The carapace is pear-shaped, dark and shiny, slightly punctuated, and anteriorly truncated. The eye region is elevated with eyes prominent in two rows, the anterior median eyes being the smallest.
In males, the chelicerae are long and robust. The abdomen is round and shiny, usually with dark spots. The legs are long, especially the first two pairs, and spines are absent.
Life style
Glenognatha species were sampled between vegetation under leaves in the forest understory from the ground layer. They construct horizontal, asymmetrical orb-webs with a tight mesh having closely set spirals and numerous radii. They attach small pieces of debris to the web under which they hide when disturbed. The web, stabilimentum and cryptic posture are very similar to those of Uloborus.
Species
As of October 2025, this genus includes 37 species:
Glenognatha argenteoguttata (Berland, 1935) – Marquesas Is.
Glenognatha argyrostilba (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1876) – Egypt, Niger, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ethiopia, DR Congo, South Africa. Introduced to Caribbean, Ecuador, Galapagos, Brazil, St. Helena, Seychelles
Glenognatha australis (Keyserling, 1883) – Ecuador to Argentina
Glenognatha boraceia Cabra-García & Brescovit, 2016 – Brazil
Glenognatha caaguara Cabra-García & Brescovit, 2016 – Brazil
Glenognatha camisea Cabra-García & Brescovit, 2016 – Peru
Glenognatha caparu Cabra-García & Brescovit, 2016 – Colombia, Venezuela, Suriname, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia
Glenognatha caporiaccoi Platnick, 1993 – Guyana
Glenognatha chamberlini (Berland, 1942) –...
