Sheet Spiders How do they Catch Prey?

Sheet spiders, sometimes called money spiders or sheet weavers; belong to the second largest spider genus the linyphiidae, the largest spider genus being the jumping spiders, the Salticidae. Sheet spiders are amazing spiders for how they attract and trap their prey. There are over 4300 species. Sheet spiders are generally very small. For example, the species shown here in not much bigger than a house fly. But their webs can be huge over a 1 meter in diameter.

There has been much research concerning the function of the sheet part of these spider's webs. For some species, some scientists believe that the sheet may act as a reflector of ultra violet light and possibly confuse insects by attracting them to land on the sheet part of the web. When they try to take off again they risk getting caught in the numerous guy lines of anchoring the sheet to the foliage.
Some sheets are also thought to create a micro climate for the spider as well.

In this video we see several interactions between the insect world and that of the sheet spider. There is an assassin bug that mimics a spiders form, pretending to be a trapped insect, then will attack the spider if it comes close enough. We also learn that not all spiders webs are sticky.