If a circular orb web was a pizza, the web of Hyptiotes paradoxus would be a single slice. Hyptiotes paradoxus builds an unusual web that has earned the spider its common name, the triangle spider. What this is for still isn't known, but there are a few ideas. It incorporates a zig-zag of dense, white silk down the centre of its web. This is particularly striking in the case of the wasp spider ( Argiope bruennichi). Some orb-weaver spiders add decoration to their webs: an extra band of silk called the stabilimentum. The species is rare, found on low-growing plants near water in southern Britain. These small webs have an open hub and resemble an inside-out umbrella. Theridiosoma gemmosum builds a web derived from the typical orb shape. The webs can be in pretty much any orientation, not just vertical. This is often where the spider takes up position, spanning the hole with its four hind legs. Webs spun by Tetragnathidae spiders, the long-jawed orb weavers, follow a similar pattern to Araneus webs, but there is a hole in the centre. They're commonly found on the outside of window frames. A strong signal thread passes through this sector to where the spider sits in its retreat. The missing sector orb weaver ( Zygiella x-notata) constructs a very similar web, but one sector is left completely free of spirals. When an insect flies into the web the spider approaches the source of the vibrations, bites it and wraps it in silk, to feed on later. The spider waits in a head-down position at the centre of the web or lies hidden among nearby vegetation where it remains in contact by means of a signal thread.
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