page_title: Hypochilus thorelli
section_title: Web
hierarchical_section_title: Hypochilus thorelli / Web
caption_attribution_description: English: Hypochilus sp. web, Appalachia.
context_page_description: Hypochilus thorelli is a species of spider in the family Hypochilidae. Unlike almost all other araneomorph or "true" spiders, members of the family have four book lungs. They are often called "lampshade spiders" because of the shape of their webs which are usually built underneath ledges or projections. H. thorelli is found in the southern Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States.
context_section_description: Like other members of the family, Hypochilus thorelli makes a "lampshade-shaped" web. The web is usually fixed to the underside of an overhang, or sometimes on a vertical surface. The spider first makes a circular "mat" of silk and then uses this as the top of a cylindrical web that widens downwards and is open at the bottom like a lampshade. The web is held taut by threads of silk connecting it to the substrate below. The stickiness of the web is created by extremely fine strands of cribellate silk, not by glue. The spider rests at the top of the web, with its long legs outstretched and touching the edges of the cylinder. In one series of observations, prey caught in the web was roughly equally divided between flying insects (e.g. crane flies) and crawling arthropods (e.g. harvestmen, ants). Prey are killed by biting and are not wrapped in silk before being consumed.
caption: Web of an undetermined species of Hypochilus in its 'normal' orientation
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