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comb-footed spider
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Comb-footed spider
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Comb-footed spider
Comb-footed spider A female comb-footed spider (Achaearanea pallens) with two egg sacs in its web.

comb-footed spider

arachnid
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Also known as: Theridiidae, cobweb weaver
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Also called:
cobweb weaver or tangle-web spiders

comb-footed spider, (family Theridiidae), any of more than 2,500 species and around 130 genera of spiders distributed around the world. The webs of comb-footed spiders consist of an irregular network of threads from which the spider often hangs. The common name of the group is derived from a row of bristles on the tarsus, or “foot,” of the hind legs, which are used to throw silken strands over prey to ensnare it.

Taxonomy

See also list of arachnids.

Major genera are Theridion, which includes the Hawaiian happy face spider (T. grallator); Parasteatoda, which includes the common American house spider (P. tepidariorum); Achaearanea; and Latrodectus, the black widows.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Melissa Petruzzello.