Hyptiotes cavatus

Hyptiotes cavatus, the triangle weaver, is a species of cribellate orb weaver in the family of spiders known as Uloboridae.[1][2][3][4] It is found in the United States and Canada.[5] It uses an unusual hunting technique[6] whereby it tightens up an anchor line of the web whilst waiting for prey. This effectively winds up and compresses the web. When prey touches the web, the spider releases the held anchor line, causing the web (and the spider) to spring forwards 2-3cm at high speed. This causes up to 4 additional web strands to touch the prey, and the sudden stop when the web reaches the end of its elasticity then winds the prey further into the strands. This process has analogues to the techniques by humans used to power catapults and ballistae.

Triangle weaver, Hyptiotes cavatus

Hyptiotes cavatus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Uloboridae
Genus: Hyptiotes
Species:
H. cavatus
Binomial name
Hyptiotes cavatus
(Hentz, 1847)

References
  1. "Hyptiotes cavatus Report". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 2018-05-06.
  2. "Hyptiotes cavatus species details". Catalogue of Life. Retrieved 2018-05-06.
  3. "Hyptiotes cavatus". GBIF. Retrieved 2018-05-06.
  4. "Hyptiotes cavatus Species Information". BugGuide.net. Retrieved 2018-05-06.
  5. "NMBE World Spider Catalog, Hyptiotes cavatus". Retrieved 2018-05-06.
  6. Han, S. I.; Astley, H. C.; Maksuta, D. D.; Blackledge, T. A. (2019-05-13). "External power amplification drives prey capture in a spider web". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: 201821419. doi:10.1073/pnas.1821419116. ISSN 0027-8424.


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