| MadSci Network: Zoology |
Depending on your area these may be the sheet webs of spiders in the families Hahniidae or Agelenidae. The Agelenidae are araneomorph funnelweb spiders (not to be confused with the dangerous Sydney funnelweb tarantula), but the funnel part of their sheet webs may not be easily seen in young individuals. Both Hahniidae and Agelenidae commonly build their sheet webs in meadows or fields. The webs are often very delicate and not easily visible unless covered with dew. However, dew will reveal hundreds or even thousands of tiny webs that were never suspected to exist before! You can get a similar effect by puffing fine corn starch on an area suspected to have webs. Reference: Comstock, J. H. (edited by W. J. Gertsch). 1940. The Spider Book.Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 729 p.
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