Leucauge is a spider genus of long-jawed orb weavers, with over 160 species and fully pantropical distribution.
Description The body and leg shapes and the silver, black and yellow markings of Leucauge females make identification of the genus relatively easy. They have two rows of long, slender curved hairs on the femurs of the fourth leg. In most cases the web is slanted rather than vertical and the spider rests in the middle of the web with its underside facing upwards.
Detailed description Leucauge species have a total body size of 10-20 mm.
The carapace is slightly longer than wide. There are eight eyes arranged in two rows with lateral eyes contiguous. The chelicerae are variable, being short and stout in some species or long and well developed with rows of large teeth in males. The endites are parallel and the sternum is longer than wide.
The abdomen is variable, being elongated and cylindrical in some species and extending caudally beyond the spinnerets. The abdomen displays distinct green, silver, white and bronze patterns. The spinnerets are unmodified with anterior and posterior pairs similar in size.
The legs have three claws and are long and slender. The posterior femora have a double fringe of trichobothria on the prolateral surface of the basal half.
Life style Leucauge species spin large orb-webs both in the morning and during the day, sometimes reusing the frame and anchor lines. The inclination of the webs varies from vertical to horizontal but is most often at a sharp angle to the ground. The hub is open with clear, widely spaced viscid spirals.
Sometimes webs have more than one occupant, with as many as three spiders sharing a single web, each using a part of it. They are frequently found in damp places such as marshes or rainforest but are not restricted to damp areas.
Name Greek λευκός (leukos) means "white", while αὐγή (augḗ) means "dawn," so called because Leucauge spiders build their first web before dawn.
Taxonomy The genus was first documented in Scottish zoologist Adam White's 1841 Description of new or little known Arachnida. Charles Darwin had suggested the name of the genus and collected the first specimen in May 1832, later named L. argyrobapta.
A vague description and the loss of the only specimen left the genus ill-defined. Leucauge developed into something of a wastebasket taxon containing 300 loosely related species, until research in the year 2010 resolved L. argyrobapta as a synonym of the quite common L. venusta and allowed revision and reclassing of the genus. However, a 2018 paper restored Leucauge argyrobapta as a separate species.
Species The World Spider Catalog accepted 174 species and eight subspecies in the genus .
This number includes: Leucauge argyra Leucauge argyrobapta Leucauge celebesiana Leucauge decorata Leucauge digna (worthy orb-weaver) – Saint Helena Leucauge dromedaria (silver orb-weaver, horizontal orb-weaver) Leucauge mabelae Leucauge mariana Leucauge subblanda Leucauge subgemmea Leucauge tessellata Leucauge undulata Leucauge venusta (orchard spider, orchard orb-weaver)
Leucauge abyssinica Strand, 1907 – Ethiopia Leucauge acuminata (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889) – Mexico, Central America Leucauge albomaculata (Thorell, 1899) – Cameroon Leucauge amanica Strand, 1907 – East Africa Leucauge analis (Thorell, 1899) – Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea Leucauge annulipedella Strand, 1911 – Indonesia (Kei Is.) Leucauge apicata (Thorell, 1899) – Cameroon Leucauge arbitrariana Strand, 1913 – Papua New Guinea (Bismarck Arch.) Leucauge argentea (Keyserling, 1865) – Mexico, Costa Rica (Cocos Is.), Colombia Leucauge argenteanigra (Karsch, 1884) – São Tomé and Príncipe Leucauge argentina (van Hasselt, 1882) – Singapore, Indonesia (Sumatra), Philippines, Taiwan L. a. nigriceps (Thorell, 1890) – Malaysia Leucauge argyra (Walckenaer, 1841) – USA to Brazil, Galapagos Leucauge argyrescens Benoit, 1978 – South Africa, Eswatini, Comoros, Seychelles Leucauge argyrobapta (White, 1841) – USA to Brazil (type species) Leucauge argyrosticta (Simon, 1907) – West Africa, DR Congo Leucauge atrostricta Badcock, 1932 – Paraguay Leucauge aureosignata (Lenz, 1891) – Madagascar Leucauge aurocincta (Thorell, 1877) – Indonesia (Sulawesi, Ambon) Leucauge auronotum Strand, 1907 – South Africa Leucauge aurostriata (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1897) – Mexico, Panama Leucauge badiensis Roewer, 1961 – Senegal Leucauge beata (Pocock, 1901) – India Leucauge behemoth Ferreira-Sousa, Venticinque, Motta & Brescovit, 2023 – Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil Leucauge bituberculata Baert, 1987 – Galapagos Leucauge blanda (L. Koch, 1878) – Russia (Far East), China, Korea, Taiwan, Japan Leucauge bontoc Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines Leucauge branicki (Taczanowski, 1874) – Ecuador, Guyana, Brazil Leucauge brevitibialis Tullgren, 1910 – East Africa Leucauge cabindae (Brito Capello, 1866) – West Africa Leucauge camelina Caporiacco, 1940 – Ethiopia Leucauge camerunensis Strand, 1907 – Cameroon Leucauge capelloi Simon, 1903 – Equatorial Guinea Leucauge caucaensis Strand, 1908 – Colombia Leucauge caudacuta (Taczanowski, 1873) – Peru, Guyana Leucauge caudata Hogg, 1914 – New Guinea Leucauge caudata (Mello-Leitão, 1944) – Brazil Leucauge celebesiana (Walckenaer, 1841) – Russia (Far East), Korea, India to China, Vietnam, Laos, Japan, Indonesia (Sulawesi), New Guinea Leucauge clarki Locket, 1968 – Angola Leucauge comorensis Schmidt & Krause, 1993 – Comoros Leucauge conifera Hogg, 1919 – Indonesia (Sumatra) Leucauge cordivittata Strand, 1911 – Indonesia (Kei Is.) Leucauge crucinota (Bösenberg & Strand, 1906) – China, Japan Leucauge curta (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889) – Panama Leucauge decorata (Blackwall, 1864) – Tanzania, Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa, Comoros, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, China, Japan, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia L. d. nigricauda Schenkel, 1944 – Timor Leucauge digna (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1870) – St. Helena Leucauge ditissima (Thorell, 1887) – Sri Lanka, Myanmar Leucauge dorsotuberculata Tikader, 1982 – India Leucauge dromedaria (Thorell, 1881) – Australia, New Zealand Leucauge emertoni (Thorell, 1890) – Indonesia (Nias Is.) Leucauge eua Strand, 1911 – Tonga Leucauge fasciiventris Kulczyński, 1911 – New Guinea Leucauge fastigata (Simon, 1877) – India to Philippines, Indonesia (Sulawesi) L. f. korinchica (Hogg, 1919) – Indonesia (Sumatra) Leucauge festiva (Blackwall, 1866) – Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Equatorial Africa, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Madagascar Leucauge fibulata (Thorell, 1893) – Singapore Leucauge fishoekensis Strand, 1909 – South Africa Leucauge formosa (Blackwall, 1863) – Brazil, Argentina L. f. pozonae Schenkel, 1953 – Venezuela Leucauge fragilis (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889) – Guatemala, Costa Rica Leucauge frequens Tullgren, 1910 – East Africa Leucauge funebris Mello-Leitão, 1930 – Brazil, French Guiana Leucauge gemminipunctata Chamberlin & Ivie, 1936 – Panama, Brazil Leucauge gibbosa (Schmidt & Krause, 1993) – Comoros Leucauge globosa (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889) – Guatemala to Brazil Leucauge granulata (Walckenaer, 1841) – India, Sri Lanka, China, Indonesia, (Sunda Is.), French Polynesia L. g. marginata Kulczyński, 1911 – New Guinea L. g. rimitara Strand, 1911 – French Polynesia (Rimitara) Leucauge grata (Guérin, 1838) – Japan, Laos, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands Leucauge hasselti (Thorell, 1890) – Indonesia (Sumatra) Leucauge hebridisiana Berland, 1938 – Vanuatu Leucauge henryi Mello-Leitão, 1940 – Brazil Leucauge idonea (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1889) – Guatemala to Brazil Leucauge ilatele Marples, 1955 – Samoa Leucauge insularis (Keyserling, 1865) – Australia (Lord Howe Is.), Samoa Leucauge iraray Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines Leucauge isabela Roewer, 1942 – Equatorial Guinea (Bioko) Leucauge japonica (Thorell, 1881) – Japan Leucauge kibonotensis Tullgren, 1910 – East Africa Leucauge kuchingensis (Dzulhelmi & Suriyanti, 2015) – Borneo Leucauge lechei Strand, 1908 – Madagascar Leucauge lehmannella Strand, 1908 – Colombia Leucauge leprosa (Thorell, 1895) – Myanmar Leucauge levanderi (Kulczyński, 1901) – Ethiopia, Congo, South Africa Leucauge licina (Simon, 1895) – Caribbean Leucauge linyphia Simon, 1903 – Equatorial Guinea Leucauge liui Zhu, Song & Zhang, 2003 – China (Hainan), Taiwan Leucauge loltuna Chamberlin & Ivie, 1938 – Mexico Leucauge lombokiana Strand, 1913 – Indonesia (Lombok, Banda Is.) Leucauge longimana (Keyserling, 1881) – Peru Leucauge longipes F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1903 – Mexico Leucauge longula (Thorell, 1878) – Myanmar, Indonesia, (Sumatra) Leucauge lugens (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896) – Mexico, Panama Leucauge macrochoera (Thorell, 1895) – Myanmar, Indonesia (Sumatra) L. m. tenasserimensis (Thorell, 1895) – Myanmar Leucauge mahabascapea Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines Leucauge mahurica Strand, 1913 – Papua New Guinea (Bismarck Arch.) Leucauge malkini Chrysanthus, 1975 – Solomon Islands Leucauge mammilla Zhu, Song & Zhang, 2003 – China Leucauge margaritata (Thorell, 1899) – Cameroon Leucauge mariana (Taczanowski, 1881) – Mexico, Hispaniola to Peru Leucauge medjensis Lessert, 1930 – DR Congo, Tanzania, South Africa Leucauge melanoleuca (Mello-Leitão, 1944) – Brazil Leucauge mendanai Berland, 1933 – French Polynesia (Marquesas Is.) Leucauge meruensis Tullgren, 1910 – Tanzania L. m. karagonis Strand, 1913 – Ruanda Leucauge mesomelas (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1894) – Mexico Leucauge moerens (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896) – Mexico, Central America, Puerto Rico Leucauge moheliensis Schmidt & Krause, 1993 – Comoros Leucauge nagashimai Ono, 2011 – Japan Leucauge nanshan Zhu, Song & Zhang, 2003 – China (Hainan) Leucauge nicobarica (Thorell, 1891) – India (Nicobar Is.) Leucauge nigricauda Simon, 1903 – Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea Leucauge nigrocincta Simon, 1903 – West Africa, São Tomé and Príncipe, Equatorial Guinea (Bioko) Leucauge nigrotarsalis (Doleschall, 1859) – Indonesia (Ambon) Leucauge obscurella Strand, 1913 – Central Africa Leucauge opiparis Simon, 1907 – São Tomé and Príncipe Leucauge papuana Kulczyński, 1911 – New Guinea Leucauge paranensis (Mello-Leitão, 1937) – Brazil Leucauge parangscipinia Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 – Philippines Leucauge pinarensis (Franganillo, 1930) – Cuba Leucauge polita (Keyserling, 1893) – Mexico, Guatemala Leucauge popayanensis Strand, 1908 – Colombia Leucauge prodiga (L. Koch, 1872) – Samoa Leucauge pulcherrima (Keyserling, 1865) – Colombia, French Guiana Leucauge pusilla (Thorell, 1878) – Myanmar (Table Is.), Indonesia (Ambon) Leucauge quadrifasciata (Thorell, 1890) – Indonesia (Nias Is.), Malaysia Leucauge quadripenicillata (van Hasselt, 1893) – Indonesia (Sumatra) Leucauge regnyi (Simon, 1898) – Caribbean Leucauge reimoseri Strand, 1936 – Central Africa Leucauge roseosignata Mello-Leitão, 1943 – Brazil Leucauge rubripleura (Mello-Leitão, 1947) – Brazil Leucauge rubromaculata Benjamin, 2024 – Sri Lanka Leucauge rubrotrivittata Simon, 1906 – India Leucauge ruwenzorensis Strand, 1913 – Central Africa Leucauge sabahan Dzulhelmi, 2016 – Malaysia (Borneo) Leucauge saphes Chamberlin & Ivie, 1936 – Panama Leucauge sarawakensis (Dzulhelmi & Suriyanti, 2015) – Malaysia (Borneo), Brunei Leucauge scalaris (Thorell, 1890) – Indonesia (Sumatra) Leucauge semiventris Strand, 1908 – Colombia Leucauge senegalensis Roewer, 1961 – Senegal Leucauge severa (Keyserling, 1893) – Brazil Leucauge signiventris Strand, 1913 – Central Africa Leucauge simplex F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1903 – Mexico Leucauge soeensis Schenkel, 1944 – Timor Leucauge speciosissima (Keyserling, 1881) – Peru Leucauge spiculosa Bryant, 1940 – Cuba Leucauge splendens (Blackwall, 1863) – Brazil Leucauge stictopyga (Thorell, 1890) – Indonesia (Sumatra)