Each person in our region has well known these representatives of the arthropod genus since childhood. Even about these spiders there are folk sayings: "A sieve does not hang with a hand in a corner." This is about spider-webbed or teridiidae. They belong to the superfamily Araneoidea, which includes 2,308 species. Some representatives of the species are poisonous, namely from the genus Latrodectus.
Spiders from this genus lived on the planet back in the Jurassic period, as evidenced by excavations.
Appearance
The abdomen of spider-webbed spiders is characterized by a spherical shape, but only for females. In males, it has a cylindrical shape. Usually abdomen with small patterns. But if we are talking about tropical species, then the shape of the body can be any.
In size, spiders - from 1 to 15 millimeters.
Arthropods on their hind legs have curved spikes, or rather bristles, designed to cast a secret on prey and cobwebs.
Arthropods of this species are not very agile, their legs are weaker than others. But these shortcomings are compensated by the ability to expertly weave a web.
Web and Hunt
In most cases, web spiders, photos of which can be seen in the article, do not create complex structures from the web. Usually these are three-dimensional networks, where the threads are randomly mixed up. The size of the trap can be huge. Some arthropods attach lairs to lodges to the web.
Spider-web spiders still cover the web threads with a sticky secret, which allows you to keep the prey from the trap. After the victim enters the network, the spider still additionally covers it with a sticky composition.
However, spiders from the subspecies Dipoena and Steatoda, as well as a number of others, weave ordered networks. After weaving, the trap is a horizontal canopy, from which sticky threads extend. It is suitable for flightless prey, intended primarily for ants.
Diet
Small insects that can fly or jump can get into the web of a spider web. These are mosquitoes, flies and cicadas. If the networks are arranged below, then the spider can catch ants and small bugs, other spiders.
Some species of the Araneoidea genus feed exclusively on ants.
Place of residence
In addition to human dwellings, cities and rural areas, spiders can settle in broad-netted snares. Some individuals settle down even between the leaves, pulling them together with cobwebs.
Spiders of this genus live even in deserts, in caves, in almost all biotopes, from litter to the crown of trees.
Poisonous species
Not all webbed spiders are harmless. In particular, karakurt is also referred to this type of arthropod. It is found in the Crimea, the Caucasus, Iran and Afghanistan, in Central Asia and on the Mediterranean coast. Females of this species are larger than males and can reach 20 millimeters in length, and the male is only 7 mm. For humans, the bite of a mature female is most dangerous. The poison of karakurt is 15 times stronger than the poison of a rattlesnake. If you do not provide timely assistance to the victim, then everything can be fatal. In the places where this spider lives, livestock is severely affected, so in most countries they are processing the territories.
By the way, these spiders are quite caring mothers. After mating, the “future father” remains in the nets, and the female sucks out useful substances from it. But after the appearance of the pet, the female protects her babies, even feeds, belching the overcooked food.
In America, there is no less dangerous species - Latrodectus mactans, or as the people say "black widow." Other poisonous individuals are found in tropical regions.