JUST SPIDERS

Basilica Spider

In contrast with the flat webs of the orchard spiders, the webs of most of Basilica Orb Weaver spiders (Mecynogea lemniscata) fill a three-dimensional space and no two threads seem to be in the same plane.

They often are found in groups in contiguous webs. Maybe they get their common name from this web structure. They do not weave orb-shaped webs; Willey, Johnson and Adler say that although some have argued that they should be assigned to the Linyphiidae family on the basis of similarity of web construction; giving greater weight to anatomical structure and behavior as critera led to their Araneidae classification.