Feather-legged Spider

Description:

aka Hackled orb weaver / Cribellate orb weaver - Uloborus is a spider genus in the family Uloboridae with 72 described species. this family has a worldwide distribution... but most species occur in the tropics and subtropics... with only few species in northern America and Europe. Uloboridae is a family of truly nonvenomous spiders... known as cribellate orb weavers or hackled orb weavers. their lack of venom glands is a secondarily evolved trait. instead... they wrap their prey thoroughly in silk... cover it in regurgitated digestive enzymes... and then ingest the liquified body. 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 zigzag pattern through the centre. pls note: there is a distinction between venom and poison... which is often confused in regard to spiders. all spiders are considered venomous (except for those in the family Uloboridae) because venom is a chemical which is injected (via a sting or bite)... but poison on the other hand is absorbed or ingested... therefore spiders are not and never were poisonous.!

Notes:

Araneae; Uloboridae; Uloborinae