Tiny spider spinning web

[peterbolson]

I found this under a rock by the river & watched it spininning this web. It was about 2mm long. I know absolutely nothing about spiders so I'd be grateful for an ID. Thanks.

[Venger]

Hmm well it looks to be a Linyphiidae though which one?
Any other photos of this one?

[peterbolson]

Nothing very clear - it was rather small & there wasn't much room for my camera . Which bit are you interested in ?
I'd be quite happy to get it down to family level.

[Venger]

Top down or a side shot would be good?

[peterbolson]

This is the only side shot I have but I doubt whether it contibutes anything as it doesn't show the head. I have been doing a bit of googling and I hadn't realised there were so many spiders

[Venger]

We have around 650 species of spider in the UK, so it's always fun tracking them down!

I'm tempted to say an Erigone spp, but there's so many Linyphiidae it could be that it would be a random guess (we have a lot of the classic 'money spider' - all black, not defining feature etc)
I'd need to see this under a microscope to tell you.
Think the best you'll get would be a Linyphiidae spp, unless No.9 can throw any ideas at you (no pressure Carl! )

[peterbolson]

Many thanks Venger. I'll see if I can find it again & get a closer look !

[No.9 Spider]

As Des says we're on a bit of a non starter with this. With over 250 species of Linyphiidae and over 100 genera within the Linyphiidae, there are a considerable amount of species fitting the photograph. It would have to be a case of keying out using the tibial spine formula to get the genus, and then examining the epigyne detail.
Without the spider you'd need close ups of the tibia for all the legs, and more besides.
There are a few I've collected which look similar but a guess would be pointless i this instance I'm afraid.
What was the web like and what size out of interest?



No.9 Spider