What is really unique about purse-web spiders is that, in contrast to trapdoor spiders, they do not construct a structure to close the burrow. Instead, they build a purse-shaped web of dense silk ...

A team of researchers discovered poorly known purse-web spiders in Africa. Four of the species described are new to science. The study was published in the open access journal ZooKeys.

The black purse-web spider, or sphodros niger, may look terrifying in photos with its distinctive protruding fangs, or chelicerae, but at the size of just a penny, it is considered harmless to ...