Bowl-and-doily Spider
Frontinella pyramitela
The unique web consists of an upward-curved 'bowl' suspended over a flat 'doily'. The spider hangs upside down beneath the bowl, waiting for prey to fall in, then pulls them through the mesh.
- Scientific name
- Frontinella pyramitela
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Arthropoda › Arachnida › Araneae › Linyphiidae › Frontinella
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- forest
- Habitat
- Temperate deciduous and coniferous forests, shrublands, fields, and suburban gardens.
- Diet
- Small flying insects, gnats, aphids, and leafhoppers.
- Range
- North America, Central America
- Size
- 3 to 4 mm (body length)
- Lifespan
- About 1 year
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Widespread pesticide use and heavy clearance of understory vegetation.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. These tiny spiders are beneficial insect predators and their fangs are too small to pierce human skin. Observe their complex, double-decker webs from a close but respectful distance. If one crawls on you, simply brush it off gently; no medical action is necessary.
The bowl and doily spider ( Frontinella communis ) is a species of sheet weaver found in North and Central America. It is a small spider, about 4 mm (0.16 in) long, that weaves a fairly complex sheet web system consisting of an inverted dome shaped web, or "bowl", suspended above a horizontal sheet web, or "doily", hence its common name. The spider hangs from the underside of the "bowl", and bites through the web small flies, gnats and other...
Photo: Judy Gallagher, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist
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