Sheet weavers (Linyphiidae) are a large family of small spiders. In Europe, more than 400 species live in it. More than 300 of these are gray or black spiders without an obvious pattern on the abdomen, the rest are more or less patterned.
Different species weave different webs, but most of them form a sheet-like web without a retreat. The web with vertical and horizontal threads on both sides of the ’sheet’ is stretched between leaves and twigs of plants, and the sheet-weaver spider sits and moves along the underside of its horizontally laid web. An insect that collides with the tangle of threads above the net flops onto it, and there the spider grabs it from underneath and venomizes it right through the web.
These tiny spiders can fly with the help of the silk they secrete from their spinnerets! One end of the silk is attached to the spider, the other end is free in the air and provides enough lift for the tiny spider to be carried away by the wind. They say that the landing of such a spider on you brings you luck and wealth…
