Long-jawed Orbweaver

Description:

Elongated body. Typically long first and second pair legs, short third pair. Chelicerae ("jaws") are extremely oversized, and are held folded under.

Habitat:

Commonly found in North and South America, including Cuba and Jamaica. Builds low orb webs between tall stalks of plants with no signal line.

Notes:

A camouflage hunter, the long jawed orb weaver rests flat against plant stalks hiding in wait for prey to pass within range. Without knowing the shape of this spider, most people won't realize it's there! The above pictures are all from the same plant which hosted an adult female, adult males, and several juveniles. Until I showed people what I was taking pictures of, they thought I was photographing the yellow flowers!