Orb-web
Guides
Anapidae
Ground Orb-web Spiders
Anapidae is a family of minute spiders containing approximately 233 extant species in 59 genera, with most adults measuring less than 2 mm in body length. The family has undergone significant taxonomic revision, incorporating the former families Micropholcommatidae and Holarchaeidae as subfamilies. Members are primarily ground-dwelling inhabitants of moist forest habitats, where many species construct diminutive orb webs less than 3 cm in diameter. The group exhibits remarkable anatomical conservation despite extreme miniaturization, retaining complete organ systems and musculature that comparable-sized insects often reduce or lose.
Philoponella
Philoponella is a genus of uloborid spiders characterized by the absence of venom glands, a trait shared by all members of family Uloboridae. These spiders are obligate web-dwellers that capture prey using silk rather than venom. The genus exhibits notable behavioral diversity, including both solitary and social species, with some demonstrating cooperative prey capture. Philoponella species are primarily pantropical in distribution.
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.