purse-webn.
/ˈpəːswɛb/, U.S. /ˈpərsˌwɛb/ Zoology.
An enclosed tubular spider's web, characteristic of mygalomorph spiders of the family Atypidae, that extends from the burrow for some distance and somewhat resembles the finger of a glove.
ΚΠ
1889 H. C. McCook Amer. Spiders I. 325 The characteristic tube of the Purseweb spider is spun against the trunk of a tree, extending several inches above the surface of the ground and about an equal distance beneath it.
1912 Ann. Entomol. Soc. Amer. 5 3 A much more elaborate provision for capturing prey made by a burrowing spider by prolonging the lining of its tube is the purse-web of Atypus.
1942 Jrnl. Animal Ecol. 11 296 The only British species of the Mygalomorphae spins purse webs on friable banks.
1961 J. L. Cloudsley-Thompson & J. Sankey Land Invertebr. x. 101 Atypus affinis lives like a hermit in its silken ‘purse-web’, eating insects that happen to crawl across the exposed portion of the tube.
1987 Jrnl. Arachnol. 15 141 (title) Morphology and allometry of the purse-web of Sphodros abboti.
Compounds
purse-web spider n. any of various mygalomorph spiders of the family Atypidae, esp. of the genus Atypus, which construct and live inside a purse-web.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Arachnida > [noun] > order Aranea > miscellaneous types > atypus abbatti (purse-web spider)
purse-web spider1889
purse spider1890
1889*Purseweb spider [see main sense].
1903 Science 1 May 705/2 Mr. Banks showed a nest of the ‘purse-web spider’ (Atypus abboti Hentz).
1992 New Mexico Oct. 78/2 These hairy tarantulas belong to a larger group known as Mygales, which includes trap-door spiders and purse-web spiders.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1889