# 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.

- **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.

## About

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...

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/d4d5ebce-5eeb-497f-84fa-3c8cbc8bab87
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/209810
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frontinella pyramitela
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/375846012/medium.jpg (Judy Gallagher, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.