Cribellate Orb Weavers

Description:

Uloboridae, the cribellate orb weavers or hackled orb weavers, is a family of non-venomous spiders. Their lack of venom glands is a secondarily evolved trait. Instead, they kill their prey by crushing with over 140 metres of thread. All members of this family produce a feathery, fuzzy silk called cribellate (or hackled) silk. These spiders do not use an adhesive on their orb webs, but rather the very fine fibers on each strand of silk tend to ensnare prey. Uloboridae webs often have a stabilimentum or zig-zag pattern through the center.