Uloboridae  

Like all spiders, hackled orbweavers have two body-segments, a cephalothorax in front and an abdomen behind. Adults are usually 3-10 mm long. They have eight legs, all attached to the cephalothorax. On the front they have two small "mini-legs" called palps. These are used to grab prey, and in mating, and are much bigger in male spiders than in females. Females in this family are often twice as large as males.

Michigan species in this family have two rows of four eyes each, though some tropical groups only have one row.

Unlike most spiders, this family doesn't have venom glands, their bite is harmless to people.

This is one of a few spider families that make a special kind of woolly, fuzzy silk. They have special structures on their abdomen and hind legs to produce this silk and make it into webs. This is where they get their name, webs made this way are called "hackled." See the Behavior section below for more information on this special webbing.

Most Hackled Orbweavers have dull colors: cream, gray, or brown are the most common.

Other Physical Features: bilateral symmetry

Sexual Dimorphism: female larger

These spiders eat small Insecta and other invertebrates. They spin flat webs that often look like an orb web or a piece of an orb web. Hackled orbweavers usually spin their webs horizontally, unlike the regular orbweaver family that makes their webs vertical.

The webs made by this family aren't sticky. Instead they are made with "hackled" silk, which is fuzzy and has lots of tiny fibers. These little fibers easily tangle up prey. Also, many species of hackled orbweavers stretch their webs and hold them tight. When a prey animal bumps into the web, it lets go of the web so that it collapses around the unlucky insect. Whenever they catch an animal in their web, they grab it and wrap it in more hackled silk. They don't have venom in their fangs, so they rely on their silk to hold their prey still.

Like most spiders, Hackled Orbweavers use web-vibrations, touching, and scents to communicate.