Blacktailed red sheetweaver
Red spider with fly in its web
Web of Florinda coccinea, showing stopping threads above and sheet below.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Linyphiidae
Genus: Florinda
O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896[1]
Species:
F. coccinea
Binomial name
Florinda coccinea
(Hentz, 1850)
Synonyms[1]

The blacktailed red sheetweaver (Florinda coccinea), also known as red grass spider, is a species of dwarf spider. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Florinda. It was first described by Octavius Pickard-Cambridge in 1896,[3] and has only been found in Mexico, the West Indies, and the United States.[1] It is common in the southeastern United States, inhabiting grasslands, lawns, and agricultural fields.[4]

Description

Eyes of the spider

F. coccinea are bright red in color, with a black caudal tubercle.[5] Adults typically grow to 3 to 4 millimetres (0.12 to 0.16 in) long, with females growing slightly larger than males. They have two rows of eyes; two on the top row and six procurved on the bottom.

Webs spun by F. coccinea consist of a horizontal sheet of non-sticky silk, and a tangle of stopping threads above. The stopping threads intercept flying prey and cause them to fall into the sheet below, where they are attacked by the spider.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Gen. Florinda O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1896". World Spider Catalog Version 20.0. Natural History Museum Bern. 2019. doi:10.24436/2. Retrieved 2019-06-14.
  2. ↑ Gertsch, W. J.; Davis, L. I. (1946). "Report on a collection of spiders from Mexico. V.". American Museum Novitates (1313): 5.
  3. ↑ Pickard-Cambridge, O. (1896), "Arachnida. Araneida", Biologia Centrali-Americana, Zoology
  4. ↑ Birkhofer, K.; Scheu, S.; Wise, D.H. (2007). "Small-scale spatial pattern of web-building spiders (Araneae) in Alfalfa: Relationship to disturbance from cutting, prey availability, and intraguild interactions". Environmental Entomology. 36 (4): 801–810. doi:10.1093/ee/36.4.801. PMID 17716470.
  5. ↑ Draney, M.L.; Buckle, D.J. (1995), "Linyphiidae", in Ubick; et al. (eds.), Spiders of North America: An Identification Manual, American Arachnological Society, pp. 1–377

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