Bug Wiki
Sticker of Sierra dome spider
Bug card No. 3835 of 4,939

Sierra dome spider

Neriene litigiosa
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsSpidersForests and woods8 legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The sierra dome spider is a small sheet weaver spider from North America. Instead of a round wheel web, it spins a flat sheet of silk shaped like a little dome or tent. It waits underneath for tiny insects to tumble in.

Fun fact: spiders are not insects. Insects have six legs, spiders have eight. Everyone calls them bugs anyway!
Lives in
North America, and it has also been brought to China
Top speed
about 1.2 km/h (0.75 mph)
On foot, estimate
What does it eat?
It eats small insects that get caught in its sheet web.
For real!Photo of Sierra dome spider
Picture by David Badke. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Scientists have studied how these spiders find a partner since 1980, at a lake research station in Montana.

2

It has also been carried to China, far from its home in North America.

3

It belongs to the sheet weavers, a huge family of mostly small spiders.

you asked

Most asked questions about Sierra dome spider

?What kind of web does the sierra dome spider make?

A sheet web shaped like a little dome, where it waits for insects.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Neriene litigiosa
Group
Spiders
Family
Linyphiidae
Classification
Arachnida > Araneae > Linyphiidae
Lives on
North America, Asia

Where the facts come from

  1. Neriene litigiosa (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by David Badke. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip

More from the same group: Spiders

Also at home here: Forests and woods

Honey jarfor grown-ups