: any of a family (Theridiidae) of cosmopolitan spiders that spin irregular, usually netlike webs and have slender legs and a row of comblike bristles on the tarsus of the hind legs which are used to throw silk to ensnare prey
And because black widows are comb-footed spiders (meaning they have rows of tiny spines on the tips of some of their legs), they build tangled webs, which they comb out now and then to trap their prey.—Nicholas Read, The Vancouver (British Columbia) Sun, 22 Nov. 2008
They say practice makes perfect, and that's a lesson comb-footed spiders have apparently taken to heart: young spiders play at sex before sexual maturity.—New Scientist, 5 Nov. 2011
called alsocobweb weaver
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