Water-walking
Guides
Ptilothrix chiricahua
Ptilothrix chiricahua is a solitary ground-nesting bee described in 2023 from specimens collected in the Chihuahuan Desert. It is a specialist pollinator of Kallstroemia grandiflora, with flight activity synchronized to this host's late summer bloom. The species exhibits the distinctive water-walking behavior characteristic of its genus, using surface tension to retrieve water for nest excavation. It was previously misidentified as Ptilothrix sumichrasti until taxonomic revision split that species into three distinct taxa.
Tetragnatha
Stretch Spiders, Long-jawed Orb Weavers
Tetragnatha is a large genus of long-jawed orb-weaving spiders with hundreds of species distributed worldwide, though most occur in tropical and subtropical regions. These spiders are characterized by their elongated bodies, extremely long legs, and notably elongated chelicerae (jaws) with well-developed teeth. They construct horizontal orb webs, often near water, and many species can run across water surfaces. The genus exhibits remarkable variation in dispersal ability, with some species being excellent dispersers capable of colonizing islands, while others appear to have secondarily lost this capacity. Hawaiian Tetragnatha species have undergone adaptive radiation, with some lineages evolving cursorial (running) behavior and abandoning web-building entirely.
spiderorb-weaverlong-jawedaquaticstretch-spideradaptive-radiationHawaiicursorial-evolutionhorizontal-webwater-walkingcamouflagemultivoltinesocial-spiderTetragnathidaeAraneaeArachnidapredatorinsectivoreriparianwetlandmeadowtropicalsubtropicalcosmopolitandispersalisland-colonizationphylogeographychemical-species-recognitioncommunal-webbingkleptoparasitism-target