Orb-weaver spiders are members of the spider family Araneidae. They are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields, and forests. The English word "orb" can mean "circular", hence the English name of the group. Araneids have eight similar eyes, hairy or spiny legs, and no stridulating organs.
Crevice weaver spiders (Filistatidae) comprise cribellate spiders with features that have been regarded as "primitive" for araneomorph spiders. They are weavers of funnel or tube webs. The family contains 18 genera and more than 120 described species worldwide.
Titanoecidae is a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Pekka T. Lehtinen in 1967. It is fairly widespread in the New World and Eurasia with five genera and more than 50 species worldwide. These are mostly dark-colored builders of "woolly" (cribellate) silk webs. Several species are found at relatively high altitudes in mountain ranges and may be very common in such habitats.
A stabilimentum, also known as a web decoration, is a conspicuous silk structure included in the webs of some species of orb-web spider. Its function is a subject of debate.
Philoponella vicina is a species of spider that does not use venom, but instead wraps its prey in hundreds of metres of spider silk to crush it to death. The spider then goes on to regurgitate digestive fluid into the shroud, then consuming the pre-digested liquid.
Philoponella is a genus of uloborid spiders. Like all Uloboridae, these species have no venom.
Cribellum literally means "little sieve", and in biology the term generally applies to anatomical structures in the form of tiny perforated plates.
Uloborus walckenaerius, also known as the feather-legged spider, is a cribellate spider in the family Uloboridae. Like all spiders in this family, they do not have venom glands and immobilize their prey with over 140 metres of thread. They are named in honor of Charles Athanase Walckenaer.
Uloborus is a spider genus in the family Uloboridae with 80 described species. Most species occur in the tropics and subtropics, with only few species in northern America and Europe.
The Deinopoidea or deinopoids are group of cribellate araneomorph spiders that may be treated as a superfamily. As usually circumscribed, the group contains two families: Deinopidae and Uloboridae.
Uloborus plumipes is a species of Old World cribellate spider in the family Uloboridae. Common names include the feather-legged lace weaver and the garden centre spider, the latter name being due to its frequent occurrence of this spider in garden centres. The species name is derived from the Latin pluma "feather" and pes "foot".
Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all orders of organisms. Spiders are found worldwide on every continent except for Antarctica, and have become established in nearly every land habitat. As of August 2022, 50,356 spider species in 132 families have been recorded by taxonomists. However, there has been debate among scientists about how families should be classified, with over 20 different classifications proposed since 1900.
Hyptiotes paradoxus, also known as the triangle spider, is a cribellate orbweaver in the family Uloboridae.
Uloborus glomosus is a species of spider in the family Uloboridae. It is one of only a few Uloborus species found in North America and the only species found in Canada. Like all other species in the Uloboridae, Uloborus glomosus does not possess venom glands, relying instead on cribellate, a fuzzy non sticky silk that they use to trap and then wrap their prey. This species exhibits different disturbance behaviors depending on factors such as the time of day, and presence of eggsacs in the web. They may jump from the web, move to the edge, remain in the center, or jerk the web to shake it. If eggsacs are present, the female spider will jerk at the web and if not present, then the female spider will walk to the opposite side of the web.
Orbiculariae is a potential clade of araneomorph spiders, uniting two groups that make orb webs. Phylogenetic analyses based on morphological characters have generally recovered this clade; analyses based on DNA have regularly concluded that the group is not monophyletic. The issue relates to the origin of orb webs: whether they evolved early in the evolutionary history of entelegyne spiders, with many groups subsequently losing the ability to make orb webs, or whether they evolved later, with fewer groups having lost this ability. As of September 2018, the weight of the evidence strongly favours the non-monophyly of "Orbiculariae" and hence the early evolution of orb webs, followed by multiple changes and losses.
Philoponella congregabilis, sometimes referred to as the little humped spider, is an Australian species of communal spider that, like other species of Uloboridae, does not use venom. Instead it wraps its prey in spider silk to crush it to death. The spider then goes on to regurgitate digestive fluid into the shroud, then consuming the pre-digested liquid. The specific name congregabilis translates to "community dwellers". The generic name Philoponella alludes to their industrious nature, "loving labour".
Hyptiotes puebla is a species of cribellate orb weaver in the family of spiders known as Uloboridae. It is found in the United States and Mexico.
Hyptiotes cavatus, the triangle weaver, is a species of cribellate orb weaver in the family of spiders known as Uloboridae. It is found in the United States and Canada. This spider makes use of its triangle-shaped web in a unique fashion compared to most orb-weaving spiders. Using its body as a bridge between an anchor line and the main trap line of the web, it uses its legs to reel in the silk leading to the rest of the web to increase tension within the structure. It waits until prey makes contact with the web, then releases the held anchor line, causing the web to spring forwards 2-3 cm at high speed. This causes up to 4 additional web strands to touch the prey, and the sudden stop when the web reaches the end of its elasticity then winds the prey further into the strands. This process uses stored elastic potential in a manner similar to human tools like the slingshot or the bow and arrow.
Lehtineniana is a genus of South Pacific cribellate orb-weavers first described by Danniella Sherwood in 2022.
