Uloboridae is a
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
of non-
venomous
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
spider
Spiders (order Araneae) 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 ...
s, known as cribellate orb weavers or hackled orb weavers. Their lack of venom glands is a secondarily evolved trait. Instead, they wrap their prey thoroughly in silk, cover it in regurgitated digestive enzymes, and then ingest the liquified body.
Description
They are medium to large spiders, with tree claws, which lack venomous glands. They build a spiral web using
cribellate
Cribellum literally means "little sieve", and in biology the term generally applies to anatomical structures in the form of tiny perforated plates.
In certain groups of diatoms it refers to microscopically punctured regions of the frustule, or o ...
silk, which is quite fuzzy. They are usually dull in color, and are able to camouflage well into their surroundings. Usually having a humped
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 to ...
, which is notoriously more humped than the
carapace
A carapace is a dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the unde ...
. Their rear eyes curving, in some species stronger than others.
Hunting
The hunting method of these
spiders
Spiders (order Araneae) 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 di ...
is quite unique among all
animals
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms in the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and go through an ontogenetic stage in ...
in the kingdom. These spiders do not use an adhesive on their orb
web
Web most often refers to:
* Spider web, a silken structure created by the animal
* World Wide Web or the Web, an Internet-based hypertext system
Web, WEB, or the Web may also refer to:
Computing
* WEB, a literate programming system created by ...
s, but rather the very fine
cribellate
Cribellum literally means "little sieve", and in biology the term generally applies to anatomical structures in the form of tiny perforated plates.
In certain groups of diatoms it refers to microscopically punctured regions of the frustule, or o ...
fibers on each strand of
silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from th ...
tend to ensnare prey. Since newly hatched uloborids lack the cribellum needed to produce cribellate sticky silk, their webs have a fundamentally different structure with a large number of fine radii, but no sticky spiral. Some spiders only building a single line web, while others make more complex webs. They lack
venomous
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...
glands, which is very rare among spiders. They first catch their prey, using their silk. They wrap their prey, and severely compress it, then they cover the prey with
digestive fluid
Gastric acid, gastric juice, or stomach acid is a digestive fluid formed within the stomach lining. With a pH between 1 and 3, gastric acid plays a key role in digestion of proteins by activating digestive enzymes, which together break down the ...
. Oddly enough, their mouthparts never touch the prey. The spider starts ingesting as soon as the prey has been covered. It is thought that robust hairs protect the spider from the digestive fluids. Though it is unknown how this behavior first evolved.
Social Behavior
Some species are able of forming colonies
like ''
Philoponella republicana'', which make large messy webs. Some colonies may range from a couple of individuals to a couple hundred. These colonies may be
nymph
A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ...
dominated or adult dominated, though a small colony dominated by adults could be a sign of the colony's slow death. These colonies show signs of being female dominated, as one would expect, with males only being found in larger colonies. This could mean males search for larger colonies, or had died out in the smaller colonies.
Distribution
This family has an almost worldwide distribution. Only two species are known from Northern Europe: ''
Uloborus walckenaerius'' and ''
Hyptiotes paradoxus''. Similarly occurring solely in northern North America (e.g.
southern Ontario
Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...
) is ''
Uloborus glomosus''. The oldest known fossil species is ''
Talbragaraneus'' from the
Late Jurassic
The Late Jurassic is the third epoch of the Jurassic Period, and it spans the geologic time from 163.5 ± 1.0 to 145.0 ± 0.8 million years ago (Ma), which is preserved in Upper Jurassic strata.Owen 1987.
In European lithostratigraphy, the name ...
(
Tithonian
In the geological timescale, the Tithonian is the latest age of the Late Jurassic Epoch and the uppermost stage of the Upper Jurassic Series. It spans the time between 152.1 ± 4 Ma and 145.0 ± 4 Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by ...
)
Talbragar Fossil Bed of Australia.
Genera
, the
World Spider Catalog
The World Spider Catalog (WSC) is an online searchable database concerned with spider taxonomy. It aims to list all accepted families, genera and species, as well as provide access to the related taxonomic literature. The WSC began as a series of ...
accepts the following genera:
*''
Ariston''
O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896 – Mexico, Panama
*''
Astavakra''
Lehtinen, 1967 – Philippines
*''
Conifaber''
Opell, 1982 – Paraguay, Argentina, Colombia
*''
Daramulunia''
Lehtinen, 1967 – Samoa, Vanuatu, Fiji
*''
Hyptiotes''
Walckenaer, 1837 – Asia, South Africa, North America, Europe
*''
Lubinella
''Lubinella'' is a genus of spiders in the family Uloboridae. It was first described in 1984 by Opell. This genus was named after arachnologist Yael D. Lubin. , it contains only one species, ''Lubinella morobensis'', from New Guinea.
Referen ...
''
Opell, 1984 – Papua New Guinea
*''
Miagrammopes
''Miagrammopes'' is a genus of Uloboridae, cribellate orb weavers first described by Octavius Pickard-Cambridge in 1870. These spiders have a unique shape and only four of their original eight eyes. They spin a single line of web, actively watchi ...
''
O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1870 – South America, Central America, Asia, Oceania, Africa, Caribbean, North America
*''
Octonoba''
Opell, 1979 – Asia, United States
*''
Orinomana''
Strand, 1934 – South America
*''
Philoponella''
Mello-Leitão, 1917 – Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia, Central America
*''
Polenecia''
Lehtinen, 1967 – Azerbaijan
*''
Purumitra''
Lehtinen, 1967 – Australia, Philippines
*''
Siratoba''
Opell, 1979 – United States, Mexico
*''
Sybota''
Simon, 1892 – Chile, Argentina
*''
Tangaroa
Tangaroa (Takaroa in the South Island) is the great of the sea, lakes, rivers, and creatures that live within them, especially fish, in Māori mythology. As Tangaroa-whakamau-tai he exercises control over the tides. He is sometimes depicted a ...
''
Lehtinen, 1967 – Vanuatu
*''
Uaitemuri''
Santos & Gonzaga, 2017 – Brazil
*''
Uloborus''
Latreille, 1806 – Asia, Oceania, South America, Africa, North America, Costa Rica, Europe
*''
Waitkera
''Waitkera'' is a genus of spiders in the family Uloboridae. It was first described in 1979 by Opell. , it contains only one species, ''Waitkera waitakerensis'', found in New Zealand.
__TOC__
Description
Female ''Waitkera waitakerensis'' are ...
''
Opell, 1979 – New Zealand
*''
Zosis''
Walckenaer, 1841 – South America, Seychelles, Asia, Oceania, Cuba
See also
*
List of Uloboridae species
References
External links
*
*
World Spider Catalog
{{Authority control
Araneomorphae families
Taxa named by Tamerlan Thorell