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 , 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) – French Polynesia (Austral Is.) Glenognatha dentata (Zhu & Wen, 1978) – China, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Vietnam, Philippines Glenognatha dubiosa Benjamin, 2024 – Sri Lanka Glenognatha emertoni Simon, 1887 – United States (type species) Glenognatha florezi Cabra-García & Brescovit, 2016 – Colombia Glenognatha foxi (McCook, 1894) – Canada to Panama Glenognatha ganeshi (Bodkhe, Manthen & Tanikawa, 2014) – India Glenognatha gaujoni Simon, 1895 – Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil Glenognatha globosa (Petrunkevitch, 1925) – Panama, Colombia, Venezuela Glenognatha gloriae (Petrunkevitch, 1930) – Puerto Rico Glenognatha gouldi Cabra-García & Brescovit, 2016 – United States, Mexico Glenognatha heleios Hormiga, 1990 – United States Glenognatha hirsutissima (Berland, 1935) – Marquesas Is. Glenognatha iviei Levi, 1980 – United States Glenognatha januari Cabra-García & Brescovit, 2016 – Brazil Glenognatha lacteovittata (Mello-Leitão, 1944) – Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay Glenognatha ledouxi Dierkens, 2016 – French Polynesia (Society Is.: Tahiti) Glenognatha mendezi Cabra-García & Brescovit, 2016 – Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador Glenognatha minuta Banks, 1898 – Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba, Dominican Rep. Glenognatha nigromaculata (Berland, 1933) – Marquesas Is. Glenognatha osawai Baba & Tanikawa, 2018 – Japan Glenognatha patriceae Cabra-García & Brescovit, 2016 – Colombia Glenognatha paullula Sankaran, Caleb & Sebastian, 2020 – India Glenognatha phalangiops (Berland, 1942) – French Polynesia (Austral Is.) Glenognatha smilodon Bosmans & Bosselaers, 1994 – Cameroon Glenognatha spherella Chamberlin & Ivie, 1936 – Mexico to Peru Glenognatha tangi (Zhu, Song & Zhang, 2003) – China, Myanmar Glenognatha timbira Cabra-García & Brescovit, 2016 – Brazil Glenognatha vivianae Cabra-García & Brescovit, 2016 – Brazil
In synonymy: G. atlantica (Holm, 1969) = Glenognatha argyrostilba (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1876) G. centralis Chamberlin, 1925 = Glenognatha minuta Banks, 1898 G. hawigtenera (Barrion & Litsinger, 1995) = Glenognatha dentata (Zhu & Wen, 1978) G. maelfaiti Baert, 1987 = Glenognatha argyrostilba (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1876) G. mira Bryant, 1945 = Glenognatha argyrostilba (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1876) G. montana (Simon, 1897) = Glenognatha argyrostilba (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1876)
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