meshweavers
(Family Dictynidae)
Overview • Description • Distribution • Taxonomy
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Description |
Meshweavers are small to medium-sized brown spiders. They can be 1⁄16″ to ⅝″ (2 to 15 mm) long in body length not including the legs, but in North America most are just ⅛″ to 3 ⁄16″ (3 to 5 mm) in length. The front part of the body (cephalothorax) is oval and long. The upper side of the cephalothorax (carapace) is pear-shaped when viewed from above. Most have eight eyes. Six of the eyes are light, two are dark. In the genus Lathys some species have just six eyes, some have eight eyes but with very small anterior median eyes (AME). The jaws (chelicerae) are relatively large, toothed, and sometimes bowed outwards. The abdomen is dull yellowish-brown or gray with dark markings. The legs are short. |
Distribution |
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| 3/27/2025 | ||
Taxonomy |
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Class |
Arachnida (arachnids) |
Order |
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Suborder |
Araneomorphae (typical spiders) |
Infraorder |
Entelegynae |
Superfamily |
Dictynoidea (meshweavers and allies) |
Subordinate Taxa |
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Genus Ajmonia Genus Altella Genus Anaxibia Genus Archaeodyctina Genus Arctella Genus Argenna Genus Argennina Genus Brigittea Genus Brommella Genus Devade Genus Dictyna Genus Emblyna Genus Hackmania Genus Iviella Genus Lathys Genus Mallos (Mexican social spiders) Genus Mexitlia Genus Nigma Genus Paradictyna Genus Paratheuma Genus Phantyna Genus Saltonia Genus Sudesna Genus Thallumetus Genus Tivyna Genus Tricholathys Genus Viridyctina |
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Synonyms |
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Common Names |
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meshweavers mesh web spiders |
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Glossary
Carapace
The hard, upper (dorsal), shell-like covering (exoskeleton) of the body or at least the thorax of many arthropods and of turtles and tortoises. On crustaceans, it covers the cephalothorax. On spiders, the top of the cephalothorax made from a series of fused sclerites.
Cephalothorax
The front part of the body of various arthropods, composed of the head region and the thoracic area fused together. Eyes, legs, and antennae are attached to this part.
Chelicerae
The pair of stout mouthparts, corresponding to jaws, in arachnids and other arthropods in the subphylum Chelicerata.
Visitor Photos |
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Alfredo Colon |
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Babette Kis |
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Don't know the genus of this meshweaver, which is about 2 1/2 mm long (body). |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos |
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Slideshows |
Диктинові павуки (Dictynidae) |
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Meshweavers (Dictynidae) |
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Visitor Videos |
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Other Videos |
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Dictynidae |
About
May 17, 2016 |
Meshweb weaver spinning cribellate silk |
About
Nov 4, 2016 This meshweb weaver (dictynidae) is spinning silk by holding one leg with the other and rapidly brushing that leg against her silk glands. The spider has a body length of 3mm and is an adult female. Video from 1:20 to 1:40 clearly shows how the spider is holding her legs to pull the silk. She's using a comb of setae (spider hairs) called a calamistrum on her leg to pull threads from a plate of spinnerets called a cribellum. I'm not sure what music I happened to be listening to -- I tuned to the "I'm feeling lucky station" on Google Music. I think the spider likes it. |
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Alfredo Colon |
Location: Albany, NY |
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| Babette Kis 7/2/2022 |
Location: Barnes Prairie Remnant, Racine Co., WI Don't know the genus of this meshweaver, which is about 2 1/2 mm long (body). |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings |
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Created: 3/22/2023 Last Updated: © MinnesotaSeasons.com. All rights reserved. |