Types of Spider Webs
A new web takes about two hours to build. Step one is to drift a silk line across a gap on the breeze. After strengthening this supporting strand with extra threads, the spider adds the radial and spiral threads.
To finish up the web, the spider removes the central knot of threads and replaces it with a lattice.
Missing sector orb-web
Web of Zygiella x-notata, with the typical missing sector top left © Anders Sandberg (CC BY 2.0), via Flickr
The spider waits in a head-down position at the centre of the web or lies hidden among nearby vegetation where it remains in contact by means of a signal thread. When an insect flies into the web the spider approaches the source of the vibrations, bites it and wraps it in silk, to feed on later.
The missing sector orb weaver (Zygiella x-notata) constructs a very similar web, but one sector is left completely free of spirals. A strong signal thread passes through this sector to where the spider sits in its retreat. They're commonly found on the outside of window frames.
Webs spun by Tetragnathidae spiders, the long-jawed orb weavers, follow a similar pattern to Araneus webs, but there is a hole in the centre. This is often where the spider takes up position, spanning the hole with its four hind legs. The webs can be in pretty much any orientation, not just vertical.
Theridiosoma gemmosum builds a web derived from the typical orb shape. These small webs have an open hub and resemble an inside-out umbrella. The species is rare, found on low-growing plants near water in southern Britain.
To finish up the web, the spider removes the central knot of threads and replaces it with a lattice.
Missing sector orb-web
Web of Zygiella x-notata, with the typical missing sector top left © Anders Sandberg (CC BY 2.0), via Flickr
The spider waits in a head-down position at the centre of the web or lies hidden among nearby vegetation where it remains in contact by means of a signal thread. When an insect flies into the web the spider approaches the source of the vibrations, bites it and wraps it in silk, to feed on later.
The missing sector orb weaver (Zygiella x-notata) constructs a very similar web, but one sector is left completely free of spirals. A strong signal thread passes through this sector to where the spider sits in its retreat. They're commonly found on the outside of window frames.
Webs spun by Tetragnathidae spiders, the long-jawed orb weavers, follow a similar pattern to Araneus webs, but there is a hole in the centre. This is often where the spider takes up position, spanning the hole with its four hind legs. The webs can be in pretty much any orientation, not just vertical.
Theridiosoma gemmosum builds a web derived from the typical orb shape. These small webs have an open hub and resemble an inside-out umbrella. The species is rare, found on low-growing plants near water in southern Britain.
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19 January 2023
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