Dictyna foliacea, like many of its relatives, is a tiny spider, even when fully grown. Spiders in this group (Family Dyctinidae) are called meshweb weavers because they construct webs that appear to be a tangled mesh. They possess a special type of weaving comb on their legs (calamistrum), and an abdominal structure with large number of tiny silk spigots (cribellum). They use these features to spin webbing that is sticky without glue, it has such an extremely fine structure that it entangles anything with texture. When fresh, areas of webbing with this sort of “cribbelate” silk forms a zig-zag pattern between parallel lines of heavier silk. The males and females look quite different. In this species they both occupy a small web on the top of a leaf. They capture large numbers of small insects, but occasionally “hit the jackpot” by capturing prey that are much larger than they are.
Here are two examples of meshweaver webs. They are often built in dried tops of last year’s herbaceous plants.
Dictyna foliacea often build their webs across the curved surface of a leaf. Sometimes on the upper surface, sometimes below. This small bit of webbing is surprisingly good at snagging insect prey, particularly flies, that attempt to land on the leaf, but become entangled in the webbing. Fresh webs (before capture of prey or debris) are nearly invisible. This small species is mostly brown. The females have patterns of pale or white scales. The males have fewer scales and often look shiny brown. There are a large number of similar spiders, so a close examination under a microscope is often needed to verify the identification.
