Home > Tangle web spider
The tangle-web spiders or comb-footed spiders (family Theridiidae) are a large group (over 2000 species in nearly 80 genera) of haphazard web-builders found throughout the world. The characteristics of this family of spiders are that they are entelegyne (have a genital plate in the female) araneomorph ecribellate (use sticky capture silk instead of wooly silk) spiders that build tangle space webs and have a comb of serrated bristles (setae) on the tarsus of the forth leg. The family includes the genus Latrodectus the notorious widow spiders. In the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in there are five widow spiders: the southern black widow spiderFor the Chechen rebel group see Black Widows. The black widow spider Latrodectus mactans is notorious for its neurotoxic venom. It is a large widow spider found throughout the world and commonly associated with urban habitats or agricultural areas. Althou (Latrodectus mactans), the northern black widow (Latrodectus variolus), the western black widow (Latrodectus hesperus), the red widow (Latrodectus bishopi), and the brown widow (Latrodectus geometricus). Other species include the red-backed spiderThe red-back spider Lactrodectus hasselti is a potentially dangerous spider now found throughout Australia. Its origins are uncertain, and it may have been spread by human activities during the 19th century. Red-back spiders are now found in all but the m (Latrodectus hasselti) from AustraliaAustralia is the sixth-largest country in the world (geographically), the only one to occupy an entire continent, and the largest in the region of Australasia. Australia includes the island of Tasmania, which is an Australian State. Its neighbouring count and accidentally introduced to JapanJapan (, Nippon/Nihon literally "the origin of the sun") is a country in East Asia situated on a chain of islands east of the Asian continent on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean. The largest of these islands are, from north to south, Hokkaido , Honsh, the katipo (Latrodectus katipo) of New ZealandFor alternative meanings, see New Zealand (disambiguation). New Zealand is a country formed of two major islands and a number of smaller islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. A common Mori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa popularly translated as Land and the European black widow (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus) of Eurasia, among others. All have strong neurotoxic venomThis article is about the toxin. For other meanings, see Venom (disambiguation Venom is a general term for the toxins used by several groups of animal species, for the purpose of defense and hunting prey. Most widely known are snakes, some species of whic.
The family also contains the strange clyptoparasitic species of Argyrodes , which often have triangular or worm-like bodies. These strange creatures live in the webs of larger spiders and eat prey caught by their host's web. They sometimes attack and eat the host.
Many species of the nominate genus Theridion are known, as well as Achaearanea , the genus that includes the common house spider. At least some members of the genus Steatoda trap ants and other ground dwelling insects by means of elastic sticky silk trap lines leading to the soil surface.
