The bowl and doily spider is a species of sheet weaver found in North and Central America. It is a small spider, about 4 mm (0.16 in) long, that weaves a fairly complex and unique sheet web system consisting of an inverted dome shaped web, or "bowl," suspended above a horizontal sheet web, or "doily", hence its common name. The spider hangs from the underside of the "bowl", and bites through the web small flies, gnats and other small insects that fall down into the non-sticky webbing. The webs are commonly seen in weedy fields and in shrubs, and may often contain both a male and a female spider in late summer—like many linyphiids, Frontinella males and females may cohabitate for some time. Males exhibit competition for female mates both by fighting and sperm competition. Uniquely, these spiders exhibit behavioral thermoregulation and have lengthened circadian rhythms.
Linyphiidae, spiders commonly known as sheet weavers, or money spiders is a family of very small spiders comprising 4706 described species in 620 genera worldwide. This makes Linyphiidae the second largest family of spiders after the Salticidae. The family is poorly understood due to their small body size and wide distribution; new genera and species are still being discovered throughout the world. The newest such genus is Himalafurca from Nepal, formally described in April 2021 by Tanasevitch. Since it is so difficult to identify such tiny spiders, there are regular changes in taxonomy as species are combined or divided.
The epigyne or epigynum is the external genital structure of female spiders. As the epigyne varies greatly in form in different species, even in closely related ones, it often provides the most distinctive characteristic for recognizing species. It consists of a small, hardened portion of the exoskeleton located on the underside of the abdomen, in front of the epigastric furrow and between the epigastric plates.
A bolas spider is a member of the orb-weaver spider that, instead of spinning a typical orb web, hunts by using one or more sticky "capture blobs" on the end of a silk line, known as a "bolas". By swinging the bolas at flying male moths or moth flies nearby, the spider may snag its prey rather like a fisherman snagging a fish on a hook. Because of this, they are also called angling or fishing spiders. The prey is lured to the spider by the production of up to three sex pheromone-analogues.
Ballooning, sometimes called kiting, is a process by which spiders, and some other small invertebrates, move through the air by releasing one or more gossamer threads to catch the wind, causing them to become airborne at the mercy of air currents and electric fields. A 2018 study concluded that electric fields provide enough force to lift spiders in the air, and possibly elicit ballooning behavior. This is primarily used by spiderlings to disperse; however, larger individuals have been observed doing so as well. The spider climbs to a high point and takes a stance with its abdomen to the sky, releasing fine silk threads from its spinneret until it becomes aloft. Journeys achieved vary from a few metres to hundreds of kilometres. Even atmospheric samples collected from balloons at five kilometres altitude and ships mid-ocean have reported spider landings. Ballooning can be dangerous.
Darwin's bark spider is an orb-weaver spider that produces the largest known orb webs, ranging from 900 to 28,000 square centimetres, with bridge lines spanning up to 25 metres (82 ft). The spider was discovered in Madagascar in the Andasibe-Mantadia National Park in 2009. Its silk is the toughest biological material ever studied. Its tensile strength is 1.6 GPa. The species was named in honour of the naturalist Charles Darwin on November 24, 2009—precisely 150 years after the publication of The Origin of Species.
Cyrtophora exanthematica are tent spiders common in tropical Asia and Australia. They are commonly known as double-tailed tent spiders because of the pair of blunt projections at the end of their abdomens. They are harmless to humans.
Cyrtophora parangexanthematica is a species of tent spider found in the Philippines. Its scientific name comes from its close resemblance to double-tailed tent spiders. It was described from a single female specimen collected in 1995.
Araneus mitificus, commonly known as the kidney garden spider or pale orb weaver is a species of orb-weaver spider found in South, East, and Southeast Asia.
Ancyronyx, commonly known as spider water beetles or spider riffle beetles, is a genus of aquatic riffle beetles from North America, South Asia, China, and Southeast Asia. They are small beetles with extremely long legs ending in strong claws. Both the adults and the larvae are found underwater in the shallow riffles of streams and rivers, clinging to rocks or submerged wood. They feed on algae and decaying wood tissue. The genus contains twenty-one species, eleven of which are endemic to the Philippines.
Laminacauda dysphorica is a species of sheet weaver found in Bolivia and Peru.
Praestigia is a genus of sheet weavers that was first described by Alfred Frank Millidge in 1954.
Primerigonina is a monotypic genus of Central American sheet weavers containing the single species, Primerigonina australis. It was first described by J. Wunderlich in 1995, and has only been found in Panama.
Scutpelecopsis is a genus of sheet weavers that was first described by Y. M. Marusik & V. A. Gnelitsa in 2009.
Symmigma is a monotypic genus of North American sheet weavers containing the single species, Symmigma minimum. It was first described by C. R. Crosby & S. C. Bishop in 1933, and has only been found in the United States.
Erigone atra is a species of dwarf spider or money spider, in the family Linyphiidae. It is commonly found in North America, Europe, parts of Russia, Central Asia, China, Mongolia, Korea, and Japan. This spider is one of the most common Erigone spiders. E. atra is an important spider for agriculture, as it preys on pests such as aphids which are commonly found on crops. E. atra spiders are aeronautical spiders, as they travel via ballooning. This technique, sometimes referred to as kiting, allows E. atra spiders to traverse large distances and find new habitats when environmental or human stresses create unfit living environments. E. atra is difficult to differentiate from other congeneric species because of their similar sizes and coloring.
Vietnagone is a small genus of Asian sheet weavers native to southeastern Tibet and northern Vietnam. It was erected by A. V. Tanasevitch in 2019 for one newly described species and one transferred from Gongylidium. They are relatively small spiders, ranging from 1.5 to 1.78 millimetres long. The name is a combination of "Vietnam" and the genus Erigone, and as of April 2022 it contains only two species: V. rugulosa and V. silvatica.
Nihonella is a monotypic genus of east Asian sheet weavers containing the single species, Nihonella chika. It was first described by F. Ballarin and T. Yamasaki in 2021, and it has only been found in Japan.
Notolinga is a monotypic genus of South American sheet weavers containing the single species, Notolinga fuegiana. It is a replacement name for Linga, already in use by a genus of molluscs. Eugène Simon described the first female in 1902 under the name "Neriene fuegiana", but the first male was not described until 2019. It has only been found in Argentina and on the Falkland Islands.
Sahastata wesolowskae is a species of crevice weaver in the genus Sahastata that lives in Oman. It was first described in 2020 by Ivan Magalhaes, Mark Stockmann, Yuri Marusik and Sergei Zonstein. The spider is small, with a carapace that is between 1.67 and 3.36 mm long and an abdomen that is between 3.73 and 4.94 mm long. The female is larger than the male, darker in color and has a more rounded abdomen. Both have a V-shaped pattern towards the middle of the carapace, but it is clearer on the female. The male has a long and slightly bent embolus. The female has an endogyne with distinctive spermathecae. It is these copulatory organs that most clearly differentiate the species from other spiders in the genus.
