meshweavers

Dictynidae is a family of cribellate spiders known as meshweavers or mesh web spiders. It occurs on every continent worldwide except Antarctica. There are 566 known species in 52 genera worldwide, at least 120 species in 19 genera in North America north of Mexico, and at least 18 species in 5 genera in Minnesota.

Though very common, meshweavers are often overlooked due to their small size, their camouflaged coloration, and the placement of their webs. Most build an irregular web on vegetation low to the ground, on top of a large leaf or on the underside of a leaf. Some species build webs in crevices. At least one species builds its web on top of dried flower stalks.

Meshweavers are cribellate spiders, meaning that they have a cribellum, a specialized spinning organ in front of the spinnerets with thousands of tiny spigots. The cribellum emits extremely fine fibers, producing silk with a woolly texture that sticks to and entangles an insect’s legs. (According to BugGuide.net, not all Dictynidae are cribellate.)

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.

Sources

7, 24, 29, 30, 82.

Don't know the genus of this meshweaver, which is about 2 1/2 mm long (body).

Location: Barnes Prairie Remnant, Racine Co., WI

Don't know the genus of this meshweaver, which is about 2 1/2 mm long (body).