Web-slingshot-predation
Guides
Theridiosoma
ray spiders
Theridiosoma is a genus of ray spiders (family Theridiosomatidae) first described by Octavius Pickard-Cambridge in 1879. These small spiders, measuring 0.5–2.5 mm in body length, are renowned for their unique hunting behavior: they construct specialized webs that function as high-speed slingshots to actively capture prey. The genus contains approximately 33 species distributed globally, with records from North America, Europe, Asia, Central and South America, Africa, Oceania, and the Caribbean.