Conical trashline orbweaver
This small spider decorates its web with a line of leftovers: old insect bodies and little bits of rubbish. Then it sits right in that line and hides. Its colours match the rubbish so well that you only see it when it moves.
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Fun facts
The rubbish line runs straight down the middle of its web. Scientists call such a web decoration a stabilimentum.
The rubbish line may also fool birds and other hunters. They peck at the rubbish, and the spider has time to escape.
When something disturbs it, it can pretend to be dead and lie very still.
The female is bigger than the male. She grows to about 7.5 millimetres, he only to about 4.
Most asked questions about Conical trashline orbweaver
?Why does this spider put rubbish in its web?
The rubbish line is its hiding place. It may also trick hungry birds into attacking the rubbish instead of the spider.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Cyclosa conica
- Group
- Spiders
- Family
- Araneidae
- Classification
- Arachnida > Araneae > Araneidae
- Lives on
- Europe
Where the facts come from
- Cyclosa conica (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by James K. Lindsey. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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