www.small-beings.org
www.small-beings.org
Die Baldachinspinnen oder Deckennetzspinnen (Linyphiidae) sind eine Familie der Echten Webspinnen (Araneomorphae) und gehören dort zur Überfamilie der Radnetzspinnen (Araneoideae). Die Familie umfasst weltweit 618 Gattungen und 4667 Arten. (Stand: August 2020) Sie werden derzeit in sechs Unterfamilien eingeteilt. In Mitteleuropa sind ca. 500 Arten nachgewiesen.
Die Baldachinspinnen sind meist nur 1,5 bis 3 mm, manchmal auch bis zu 8 mm groß und weben ihre Netze häufig in Bodennähe in Wiesen oder in der Strauchschicht. Sie tarnen sich durch ihre Färbung gegenüber Feinden, indem sie eine dunklere Bauchseite haben und schwer vom Boden aus zu erkennen sind. Ihr Netz besteht aus einer Decke und Absturzfäden, in denen sich Beute verfängt. Die erwachsenen Tiere fliegen durch die Luft, indem sie einen Flugfaden produzieren. Die Familie Linyphiidae wird in sieben Unterfamilien eingeteilt.
Linyphiidae, spiders commonly known as sheet weavers (from the shape of their webs), or money spiders (in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and in Portugal, from the superstition that if such a spider is seen running on one, it has come to spin the person new clothes, meaning financial good fortune) is a family of very small spiders comprising 4706 described species in 620 genera worldwide. This makes Linyphiidae the second largest family of spiders after the Salticidae. The family is poorly understood due to their small body size and wide distribution; new genera and species are still being discovered throughout the world. The newest such genus is Himalafurca from Nepal, formally described in April 2021 by Tanasevitch. Since it is so difficult to identify such tiny spiders, there are regular changes in taxonomy as species are combined or divided. Money spiders are known for drifting through the air via a technique termed “ballooning”.Within the agriculture industry, money spiders are regarded as biological control agents against pest species like aphids and springtails.
Linyphiidae is a family of spiders that have a distinctive clypeus shape and chelicerae with ridges. They are found all over the world, including in snowy conditions where they can walk on snow. These spiders can travel by ballooning, but this method of travel is risky and often leads to high mortality rates. They are preyed upon by birds such as goldcrests and feed on aphids, springtails, flies, and other spiders. The family includes several subfamilies and many species, with variations in body size and web-building behavior.