External-digestion
Guides
Uloboridae
hackled orb weavers, cribellate orb weavers
Uloboridae is a family of spiders distinguished by their lack of venom glands, a secondarily evolved trait unique among arachnids. Instead of venom, they subdue prey through extensive silk wrapping and compression, followed by external digestion using regurgitated enzymes. Members of this family are known as cribellate orb weavers, producing specialized silk from an additional spinning organ called the cribellum, which is combed into tangled, non-sticky capture threads. The family includes both traditional orb web builders and species with reduced web structures, such as the triangle spiders of genus Hyptiotes.