The spider family Uloboridae (hackled orbweb weavers) includes 268 described species (Platnick 2014). Most species are tropical, with relatively few species occurring in the temperate zone (Bradley 2013). Just over a dozen species in seven genera are found in North America north of Mexico (Opell 2005; Platnick 2014): Uloborus and Hyptiotes are represented by several species throughout the United States and Canada; Miagrammopes (M. mexicanus) is found only in southern Texas; Siratoba (S. referens) and Philoponella species are restricted to the southwestern United States and Texas; and Zosis (Z. geniculata) is found only in the Gulf Coast states. Octonoba sinensis is an introduced Asian species with a wide but patchy distribution east of the Rocky Mountains, where it appears to be confined to greenhouses and barns (Muma and Gertsch 1964; Opell 1979,1983 cited in Opell 2005). Uloborids resemble small araneids, but have a cribellum and calamistrum.
Uloborids are unusual in that they lack venom glands and do not use venom to subdue their prey. Instead, they apply thousands of wrapping movements with their hind legs and use up to hundreds of meters of silk to construct a thick shroud that applies substantial compressive force to their prey. These shrouds sometimes not only restrain prey, but also break the prey’s legs, buckle its compound eyes inward, or kill it outright. The spider then covers the entire surface of its prey with digestive fluid, liquefying it; the spider’s mouthparts usually never touch the prey itself. The silk is eventually consumed along with the prey. (Eberhard et al. 2006; Weng et al. 2006; Bradley 2013)
NorthAmerixan uloborids make three types of webs: orb webs (Octonoba, Philoponella, Siratoba, Uloboris, and Zosis), triangle webs (Hyptiotes), and simple webs formed of just a few capture lines and lacking a stereotypic architecture (Miagrammopes) (Opell 2005 and references therein). Triangle webs are oriented vertically. In contrast to the orbwebs made by most spiders that spin them (except for most tetragnathids), uloborid orbwebs are typically oriented horizontally. In addition to differences in their webs, North American uloborids vary in where they place their egg sacs. Hyptiotes females deposit their eggs on small twigs, Octonoba females place their egg sacs at the edge of the web, and Zosis females incorporate their egg sacs in the orb (Opell 1984 cited in Opell 2005). Uloborus females attach a growing chain of egg sacs along a radius at the edge of the orb. Philoponella and Miagrammopes females hold their egg sacs with one first leg until spiderlings emerge. (Opell 2005 and references therein).
Philoponella form communal aggregations, with many individuals sharing the support frame strands around their individual orb webs. Individuals in these aggregations often defend their own orbs from other spiders in the group, but in some species they engage in cooperative prey capture (Masumoto 1998 and references therein). Many uloborids add decorations, such as stabilimenta, to their webs (in some cases, young and adult spiders may add different decorations).
Opell (2005) reviewed the taxonomic history of the family Uloboridae.
Uloboridae is a family of non-venomous 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.[1]
They are medium to large spiders, with tree claws, which lack venomous glands. They build a spiral web using cribellate silk, which is quite fuzzy. They are usually dull in color, and are able to camouflage well into their surroundings. Usually having a humped opisthosoma, which is notoriously more humped than the carapace. Their rear eyes curving, in some species stronger than others.[2]
The hunting method of these spiders is quite unique among all animals in the kingdom. These spiders do not use an adhesive on their orb webs, but rather the very fine cribellate fibers on each strand of silk tend to ensnare prey.[3] Since newly hatched uloborids lack the cribellum needed to produce cribellate sticky silk, their webs have a fundamentally different structure with a large number of fine radii, but no sticky spiral.[4] Some spiders only building a single line web, while others make more complex webs. They lack venomous glands, which is very rare among spiders. They first catch their prey, using their silk. They wrap their prey, and severely compress it, then they cover the prey with digestive fluid. Oddly enough, their mouthparts never touch the prey. The spider starts ingesting as soon as the prey has been covered. It is thought that robust hairs protect the spider from the digestive fluids.[5] Though it is unknown how this behavior first evolved.
Some species are able of forming colonies[2] like Philoponella republicana, which make large messy webs. Some colonies may range from a couple of individuals to a couple hundred. These colonies may be nymph dominated or adult dominated, though a small colony dominated by adults could be a sign of the colony's slow death. These colonies show signs of being female dominated, as one would expect, with males only being found in larger colonies. This could mean males search for larger colonies, or had died out in the smaller colonies.[6]
This family has an almost worldwide distribution. Only two species are known from Northern Europe: Uloborus walckenaerius and Hyptiotes paradoxus. Similarly occurring solely in northern North America (e.g. southern Ontario) is Uloborus glomosus. The oldest known fossil species is Talbragaraneus from the Late Jurassic (Tithonian) Talbragar Fossil Bed of Australia.[7]
As of April 2019, the World Spider Catalog accepts the following genera:[8]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) Uloboridae is a family of non-venomous 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.
