#hackled orb weavers

[arachnophanatic]

I actually found this Uloborus sp. too but couldn’t persuade it to break its “no I swear to you I am just a dead leaf” pose

[arachnophanatic]

Hackled orb weaver / family Uloboridae

[arachnophanatic]

CRIBELLATE ORB WEAVER (Uloboridae), genus Uloborus

Found a few of these in a little apartment complex made of multiple horizontal webs in a gap between bushes; my first ever encounter with this orb weaver family (I’ve only seen Araneidae and Tetragnathidae so far).

[Uloboridae information under cut]

The cribellate orb weaver:

Does not have venom glands!

Web is not sticky; they spin a weird, fine silk “back-combed” by a movement they make with their legs while spinning, which entangles insects’ legs as they walk over it.

Creates HORIZONTAL webs with stabilimenta (thick scribbly or zig-zag lines through the web; this is thought to provide camouflage, attract prey, and/or help make the web visible so it won’t be accidentally destroyed by diurnal animals).

Enjoys being impossible to photograph by impersonating a dead leaf 24/7. Never once caught it breaking that position. One time it even let its abdomen dangle and pretended to blow in the breeze like “nothing to see here; I am merely web trash”