Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Family Dictynidae - Mesh Web Weavers

tiny pink-edged spider Unknown spider Dictynidae - Emblyna sublata - female Dictynidae Spider id needed Spiders ~2mm - male - female Dictynidae - Emblyna Spider ~3mm
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Chelicerata (Chelicerates)
Class Arachnida (Arachnids)
Order Araneae (Spiders)
Infraorder Araneomorphae (True Spiders)
No Taxon (Entelegynae)
Family Dictynidae (Mesh Web Weavers)
Other Common Names
Dictynids
Numbers
There are 51 genera worldwide with 19 genera in our range.

Dictyna: 44 species(1)
Emblyna: 63 species(1)
Phantyna: 9 species(1)
Tivyna: 4 species(1)
Identification
Eye arrangement in Dictyna and another member of the family:
   
Range
Better distribution information will be added as time permits. In the meantime, refer to the list from the American Arachnological Society which can be found here.

Arctella
- Arctella lapponica

Argenna
- Argenna obesa

Argennina
- Argennina unica

Brigittea
- Brigittea civica

Brommella
- Brommella bishopi
- Brommella lactea
- Brommella monticola

Dictyna
- Dictyna abundans
- Dictyna agressa
- Dictyna alaskae
- Dictyna annexa
- Dictyna apacheca
- Dictyna arundinacea
- Dictyna bellans
- Dictyna bellans hatchi
- Dictyna bostoniensis
- Dictyna brevitarsa
- Dictyna calcarata
- Dictyna cavata
- Dictyna cebolla
- Dictyna cholla
- Dictyna coloradensis
- Dictyna crosbyi
- Dictyna dauna
- Dictyna foliacea
- Dictyna formidolosa
- Dictyna gloria
- Dictyna idahoana
- Dictyna juno
- Dictyna longispina
- Dictyna major
- Dictyna marilina
- Dictyna minuta
- Dictyna mora
- Dictyna nebraska
- Dictyna peon
- Dictyna personata
- Dictyna pictella
- Dictyna quadrispinosa
- Dictyna saepei
- Dictyna saltona
- Dictyna sancta
- Dictyna secuta
- Dictyna sierra
- Dictyna subpinicola
- Dictyna sylvania
- Dictyna terrestris
- Dictyna tridentata
- Dictyna tucsona
- Dictyna volucripes
- Dictyna volucripes volucripoides

Emblyna
- Emblyna aiko
- Emblyna altamira
- Emblyna angulata
- Emblyna annulipes
- Emblyna ardea
- Emblyna artemisia
- Emblyna borealis
- Emblyna borealis cavernosa
- Emblyna branchi
- Emblyna callida
- Emblyna capens
- Emblyna chitina
- Emblyna completa
- Emblyna completoides
- Emblyna consulta
- Emblyna cornupeta
- Emblyna coweta
- Emblyna crocana
- Emblyna cruciata
- Emblyna decaprini
- Emblyna evicta
- Emblyna florens
- Emblyna francisca
- Emblyna hentzi
- Emblyna horta
- Emblyna hoya
- Emblyna iviei
- Emblyna joaquina
- Emblyna jonesae
- Emblyna klamatha
- Emblyna lina
- Emblyna linda
- Emblyna littoricolens
- Emblyna manitoba
- Emblyna mariae
- Emblyna marissa
- Emblyna maxima
- Emblyna melva
- Emblyna nanda
- Emblyna oasa
- Emblyna olympiana
- Emblyna orbiculata
- Emblyna oregona
- Emblyna osceola
- Emblyna palomara
- Emblyna peragrata
- Emblyna phylax
- Emblyna pinalia
- Emblyna piratica
- Emblyna reticulata
- Emblyna roscida
- Emblyna saylori
- Emblyna scotta
- Emblyna seminola
- Emblyna serena
- Emblyna shasta
- Emblyna shoshonea
- Emblyna stulta
- Emblyna sublata
- Emblyna sublatoides
- Emblyna suprenans
- Emblyna suwanea
- Emblyna uintana
- Emblyna zaba

Hackmania
- Hackmania prominula
- Hackmania saphes

Iviella
- Iviella newfoundlandensis
- Iviella ohioensis
- Iviella reclusa

Lathys
- Lathys alberta
- Lathys albida
- Lathys delicatula
- Lathys dixiana
- Lathys foxi
- Lathys immaculata
- Lathys maculina
- Lathys pallida
- Lathys sylvania

Mallos
- Mallos blandus
- Mallos bryanti
- Mallos dugesi
- Mallos mians
- Mallos niveus
- Mallos pallidus
- Mallos pearcei

Mexitlia
- Mexitlia trivittata

Nigma
- Nigma linsdalei

Paratheuma
- Paratheuma insulana
- Paratheuma makai (HI)

Phantyna
- Phantyna bicornis
- Phantyna micro
- Phantyna mulegensis
- Phantyna pixi
- Phantyna provida
- Phantyna rita
- Phantyna segregata
- Phantyna terranea
- Phantyna varyna
- Phantyna varyna miranda

Saltonia
- Saltonia incerta

Thallumetus
- Thallumetus pineus

Tivyna
- Tivyna moaba
- Tivyna pallida
- Tivyna petrunkevitchi
- Tivyna spatula

Tricholathys
- Tricholathys cascadea
- Tricholathys hansi
- Tricholathys hirsutipes
- Tricholathys jacinto
- Tricholathys knulli
- Tricholathys monterea
- Tricholathys rothi
- Tricholathys saltona
- Tricholathys spiralis


(not finished with this yet)
Remarks
Spiders in the family can be cribellate or ecribellate.
Print References
Chamberlin and Gertsch, 1958, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, The spider family Dictynidae in America north of Mexico. Warning - this is a large pdf file (39 MB) that may take several minutes to download. Also, according to the chapter in Spiders of North America (1) by Robert Bennett, this paper only revises the cribellate dictynids.
Works Cited
1.Spiders of North America: An Identification Manual
D. Ubick, P. Paquin, P.E. Cushing and V. Roth (eds). 2005. American Arachnological Society.