How many types of spider webs are there in Britain?

Spiders use their webs to catch dinner. In Britain, spider webs can be categorized into seven broad types: orb, sheet, tangle, funnel, lace, radial and purse.

Orb webs, the classic, two-dimensional webs, look like bicycle wheels or dart boards, which are constructed with radial threads that function as a scaffold. The spider then lays down sticky threads in a spiral.

Sheet webs, densely woven, thin, horizontal, look like silken hammocks adorning grass and low bushes. Bugs fall onto the hammocks or get knocked down when they collide with a tangle of threads above the sheet.

Tangle webs look like a messy tangle of threads, which are often found in houses and collect dust as they age.

Funnel webs resemble a funnel, which are made by just one family in Britain - the Agelenidae.

Lace webs are similar to funnel webs in that they also have a tubular retreat where the spider hides, but they are made of 'woolly' cribellate silk and the threads are more loosely spaced, looking more like lace than a silk sheet.

Radial webs have single lines of silk radiating away from a silken tube. The lines function as trip wires that alert the spider hiding inside the tube to prey wandering past. It dashes out at frightening speed. Only a single family of UK spiders - Segestriidae, makes this kind of web.

Purse webs are only built by Atypus affinis. Atypus affinis digs a long underground tunnel and lines it with silk, which looks a bit like a sock or purse.