Bug FAQBowl-and-doily Spider
Frontinella pyramitela · Order: Araneae · Family: Linyphiidae
Also called: Bowl and Doily Weaver
The bowl-and-doily spider is a tiny, reddish-brown spider about 4 mm long with white dots on its abdomen sides and short hairs. It builds a flat, non-sticky sheet web in fields, shrubs, woods or forests across North and Central America and catches small insects like gnats and flies, which it immobilizes with venom. Adults are most active in May-June and again in September; males compete for mates while females live longer when food is limited.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The abdomen has decorative white dots along the sides and short hairs. The body is reddish-brown with yellowish legs.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
It is about 4 mm (0.15-0.16 in) long.
Source: Wikipedia
Does it bite or sting?
It injects venom to immobilize its prey.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Webs are commonly found in weedy fields and shrubs. It also occurs in many habitats such as temperate woods, alpine forests, and humid tropical areas.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
It feeds on small insects like gnats and flies that fall into its web. After capture it bites and injects venom to immobilize the prey.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Males compete for females by fighting and sperm competition. Females tend to live longer when their diet is restricted.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
They are most active in May-June and again in September. Males rarely build webs and rely on female snares for food.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is a sheet-weaver native to North and Central America, especially the United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 50 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, California, Florida, North Carolina, Texas.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America; native in United States; native in Canada. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Linyphiidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowl_and_doily_spider
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.