Ray spider
| Ray spiders Temporal range:
| |
|---|---|
| female Wendilgarda sp. | |
| female Plato ferriferus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Theridiosomatidae Simon, 1881 |
| Diversity | |
| 24 genera, 180 species | |
| blue: reported countries (WSC) green: observation hotspots (iNaturalist) | |
Theridiosomatidae, commonly known as ray spiders, are a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Eugène Simon in 1881. The family includes more almost 200 described species divided between 24 genera.
Ray spiders are small arachnids, usually less than 3 mm in body length, best known for their distinctive cone-shaped webs and their remarkable hunting technique of using their webs as high-speed slingshots to capture prey.