branched St. Bernard's-lily vs Cobweb spider

Anthericum ramosum compared with Enoplognatha thoracica

Key Differences

branched St. Bernard's-lily is Extinct while Cobweb spider is Vulnerable.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	branched St. Bernard's-lily	Cobweb spider
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class	Liliopsida (Monocots)	Arachnida (Arachnids)
Order	Asparagales (Asparagales)	Araneae (Araneae)
Family	Asparagaceae	Theridiidae
Genus	Anthericum	Enoplognatha
Species	Anthericum ramosum	Enoplognatha thoracica

Conservation Status

branched St. Bernard's-lily

EX — Extinct

Cobweb spider

VU — Vulnerable

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	branched St. Bernard's-lily	Cobweb spider
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

branched St. Bernard's-lily

Habitat

Typically found in grasslands, wetlands, forests, and cultivated landscapes.

Range

Distributed across Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Cobweb spider

Habitat

Typically found in terrestrial habitats from forests to deserts.

Range

Found across Europe (4 countries) and North America (Canada, United States). Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

branched St. Bernard's-lily

The Branched st. bernard's-lily (Anthericum ramosum) is a species in the genus Anthericum. It is currently classified as Extinct on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in grasslands, wetlands, forests, and cultivated landscapes.

Cobweb spider

Enoplognatha thoracica is a slender cobweb spider in the family Theridiidae, a widespread group of three-dimensional web-building spiders found across the temperate regions of Europe and North America. This small spider, typically measuring 3–5 millimeters in body length, constructs irregular, tangled cobwebs in low vegetation, hedgerows, meadow margins, and scrubby habitats where it captures small flying and crawling arthropods. The body is pale yellowish-brown to creamy white with darker markings on the abdomen, and the legs are long and slender relative to body size, adapted for navigating the three-dimensional structure of its web. Like other theridiids, Enoplognatha thoracica uses a gum-foot trap technique in which sticky vertical threads attached to the substrate at their lower ends snap insects upward when disturbed, immobilizing prey effectively. The species occupies a range spanning much of Europe eastward into temperate Asia and has established populations in parts of North America, likely through accidental human-mediated dispersal. Females produce egg sacs that are guarded within the web until hatching. The species is associated with disturbed and edge habitats and tolerates moderate agricultural landscapes. It is classified as Vulnerable by some assessments, reflecting localized population pressures from habitat loss and intensification of land use in parts of its range, though other evaluations consider it more broadly secure.