Elongated-body
Guides
Deinopidae
Net-casting Spiders, Ogre-faced Spiders
Deinopidae is a family of cribellate spiders known for their distinctive net-casting hunting strategy. They construct small rectangular capture webs held between their elongated front legs, which they stretch to two or three times their relaxed size before propelling themselves forward to entangle prey. The family includes three genera: Deinopis and Asianopis (ogre-faced spiders with enlarged posterior median eyes for night vision), and Menneus (humped-back spiders lacking enlarged eyes). These spiders are sit-and-wait predators with excellent night vision, hunting primarily after dark while resting cryptically during daylight hours.
Helops attenuatus
attenuated darkling beetle
Helops attenuatus is a North American darkling beetle in the family Tenebrionidae, first described by LeConte in 1851. The species belongs to a genus characterized by elongated body forms and relatively long antennae compared to many tenebrionids. Like other members of the tribe Helopini, it exhibits morphological traits that can cause confusion with ground beetles (Carabidae), particularly in antennae structure.
Hydrometridae
marsh treaders, water measurers
Hydrometridae is a family of semiaquatic true bugs comprising over 147 species across seven genera and three subfamilies. Members are characterized by extremely elongated, slender bodies and heads that give them a measuring-stick appearance. They inhabit water surface margins of lakes, ponds, and wetlands worldwide, with greatest diversity in tropical regions. Some lineages have independently evolved terrestrial habits in insular Pacific habitats.