Money Spider

Money spiders make up one of the largest spider families, comprising thousands of species that are typically very small and easily overlooked despite being among the most abundant spiders in many temperate ecosystems. The common name comes from British folklore holding that a money spider landing on a person, or being carried in a pocket, brings financial good fortune.

These spiders are best known for building small, horizontal or dome-shaped sheet webs low in grass and vegetation, often with a tangle of supporting threads above that knock flying insects down onto the sheet below. Many species are also prolific "ballooners," releasing silk threads into the air that catch the wind and carry the tiny spider, sometimes for considerable distances, a behavior important for colonizing new habitats.

Despite their small size, money spiders are ecologically significant as extremely abundant predators of small invertebrates in grasslands, agricultural fields, and gardens, and are considered valuable natural pest regulators in farmland ecosystems.

• Very small size, often just 1-4 mm in body length, requiring close inspection to see detail
• Dark brown, black, or reddish coloring, sometimes with a shiny or patterned abdomen
• Builds a small, flat or dome-shaped horizontal sheet web low in grass or vegetation
• Often seen hanging upside down beneath its sheet web waiting for prey to fall onto it
• Lookalikes include other tiny web-building spiders, but the low horizontal sheet web with the spider hanging beneath is a strong identifying clue

Money spiders are found in grasslands, hedgerows, gardens, agricultural fields, and leaf litter across temperate regions worldwide, with particularly high diversity and abundance in Europe. They are frequently the most numerous spiders present in a given patch of grassland, occurring in extremely high densities.

These spiders build small sheet webs close to the ground and hang beneath them, seizing small insects that fall or become entangled from above. Many species disperse by ballooning, climbing to an exposed point, releasing silk into the breeze, and being carried aloft, sometimes over long distances, which helps populations spread rapidly into new areas such as freshly disturbed farmland. As abundant predators of springtails, aphids, and other small invertebrates, money spiders play an important role in controlling pest populations in grassland and farmland ecosystems.

Females lay small egg sacs hidden within vegetation or leaf litter near the web site. Spiderlings hatch and often disperse quickly via ballooning, spreading them across a wide area. Growth to maturity occurs over several molts within a few months, with many species producing multiple generations per year and some overwintering as juveniles or adults in temperate climates.