Kawi spider (Leucauge wulingensis)

Kawi spider (Leucauge wulingensis) is an arboreal species belonging to the family Tetragnathidae; it is an orb-weaver, constructing circular, wheel-shaped webs. Females measure 8.1–11.6 mm in length, while males measure 4.9–5.8 mm. Typically, the anterior (front) portion of the body is black, purple, or brown, while the posterior (rear) portion is silver or white.

The female possesses a yellowish-brown carapace with darker sides and a clearly defined cervical groove. Its abdomen is cylindrical and silvery-white, marked by three dark brown longitudinal stripes that converge at both the anterior and posterior ends. The central stripe features three pairs of lateral branches.



The legs are a pale brownish-black, becoming darker toward the tips. The first pair of legs is exceptionally long, while the fourth pair is the shortest. When at rest, the first and second pairs of legs often appear to be held together. They are commonly found in shaded shrubbery, forests, and bamboo thickets.

Males exhibit brighter coloration, with an orange-yellow carapace and a yellow abdomen adorned with two silvery-white longitudinal stripes along the dorsal side, as well as a black patch at the posterior tip.

This species is distinguished from others in the same genus by the absence of "shoulder" humps on the abdomen, the presence of brush-like hairs on the leg segments of the female, and specific structural differences in the reproductive organs.

TAXON

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Suborder: Araneomorphae
Infraorder: Entelegynae
Superfamily: Araneoidea
Family: Tetragnathidae
Subfamily: Leucauginae
Genus: Leucauge White (1841)
Species: Leucauge wulingensis Song & Zhu (1992)

PUBLICATIONS

Song, D. X., & Zhu, M. S. (1992). Notes on six species of the genus Leucauge (Araneae: Tetragnathidae) of China. Sinozoologia 9: 111-, 117.

VERNACULAR NAME

Chinese (simplified): 武陵银鳞蛛
Chinese (traditional): 武陵銀腹蛛
English: Kawi spider
Hong Kong: 武陵銀腹蛛
Indonesia: Laba-laba kawi, Laba-laba gunung kawi
Java: Kemonggo kawi
Macao: 武陵銀腹蛛

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