''Enoplognatha ovata'', the common candy-striped spider, is a species of
spider
Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...
belonging to the family
Theridiidae
Theridiidae, also known as the tangle-web spiders, cobweb spiders and comb-footed spiders, is a large family of Araneomorphae, araneomorph spiders first described by Carl Jakob Sundevall in 1833. This diverse, globally distributed family includes ...
. Their scientific name derives from the latin word 'ovatus' which means egg-shaped.
Despite its small size, this is a formidable
predator
Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...
which can prey on
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...
s many times its size.
Description
This spider, reaching a length of 6 mm (excluding legs), they have translucent legs and the globular
abdomen
The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...
is extremely variable in colour and pattern: the background colour is usually white, cream or green and can be marked with a row of dark spots, a broad red stripe or with two red stripes in a v-shape. Their coloration can usually be categorized in 3 variations "''Lineata''" with plant yellow or cream
opisthosoma
The opisthosoma is the posterior part of the body in some arthropods, behind the prosoma ( cephalothorax). It is a distinctive feature of the subphylum Chelicerata (arachnids, horseshoe crabs and others). Although it is similar in most respects ...
. "''Redimita''" which has a pair of dorsal red stripes and "''Ovata''" in which the entire dorsal area is red. The last variation is the rarest, only occurring sporadically in populations.
To the naked eye, they are basically indistinguishable from ''
E. latimana,'' which can only be distinguished by the male
palpal bulb
The two palpal bulbs – also known as palpal organs and genital bulbs – are the copulatory organs of a male spider. They are borne on the last segment of the pedipalps (the front "limbs" of a spider), giving the spider an appearance often descr ...
and the
epigyne
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. ...
of females, in mature spiders. The same patterns mentioned also occur ''E. latimana'', with the "''lineata''" being the most common of them.
Distribution
It is native to
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
and has also been introduced to
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
, and it is notably found in
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
.
[The checklist of Lithuanian spiders (Arachnida: Araneae). Marija Biteniekytė and Vygandas Rėlys, Biologija, 2011, Vol. 57, No. 4, pages 148–158, ] In the US it is found from coast to coast, although not as far south as
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
. It is found in open fields, in forest, and in roadsides, usually found in the underside of leaves and low growing vegetation. Their population usually occurs in dense clumps, sometimes referred to as colonies.
Ecology
The female deposits its
eggs
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo begins to develop.
Egg, EGG or eggs may also refer to:
Biology
* Egg cell, the female reproductive cell (gamete) in oogamous organisms
Food
* Eggs as food
Places
* Egg, Austria
* Egg, Switzerland ...
in a white sac and after several days the sac gradually changes colour to a blue/grey. This is secreted within a rolled-up leaf fastened with
silk
Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...
and the female guards it until the eggs hatch.
Its web is usually a small assortment of tangled threads, found in the underside of a leaf. The edges of said leaf are usually pulled down slightly with the threads, creating a hide. This can also be used to help spot their webs.
References
*
Theridiidae
Spiders of Europe
Spiders described in 1757
Taxa named by Carl Alexander Clerck
{{Theridiidae-stub