cool spiders. i recall spending plenty of time searching for them many years ago, in vain -- and until july of this year, i had only ever seen a single sphodros web. since july of this year, i've spotted four webs - plus i saw a male sphodros rufipes, and found piece of an exuvia outside of a web. i've attached photos of three webs along with the male and the impressive fang.
i was surprised to see that two of the webs i found were not attached to the base of a tree, but rather low vegetation. kinda just in a clump of 'grass' along the edge of paths. i kinda just assume these are sphodros rufipes, but iNat hasn't provided much insight.
the fourth web, not photographed, i presume belongs to a sphodros niger - which doesn't build its web up, it lays hidden, draped across the ground near the base of a tree. the exuvia was found next to that web.
the spider attacks prey from within that sock-like web, piercing through the web and into the hapless insect that happened to walk across it. the tube attaches to a burrow in which the spider stays, similar to their mygalomorph kin (trapdoor spiders, folding-door spiders, etc).
i had a summer of sphodros, apparently. just the other day there was a male ummidia trapdoor spider outside of my work. i guess the mygals are calling for me...
(btw i live in northern virginia, us, all these sightings are ~35 miles from DC)
ANYWAY, do we have any atypidae experts here? any insight on these intriguing friends?
i was surprised to see that two of the webs i found were not attached to the base of a tree, but rather low vegetation. kinda just in a clump of 'grass' along the edge of paths. i kinda just assume these are sphodros rufipes, but iNat hasn't provided much insight.
the fourth web, not photographed, i presume belongs to a sphodros niger - which doesn't build its web up, it lays hidden, draped across the ground near the base of a tree. the exuvia was found next to that web.
the spider attacks prey from within that sock-like web, piercing through the web and into the hapless insect that happened to walk across it. the tube attaches to a burrow in which the spider stays, similar to their mygalomorph kin (trapdoor spiders, folding-door spiders, etc).
i had a summer of sphodros, apparently. just the other day there was a male ummidia trapdoor spider outside of my work. i guess the mygals are calling for me...
(btw i live in northern virginia, us, all these sightings are ~35 miles from DC)
ANYWAY, do we have any atypidae experts here? any insight on these intriguing friends?
Attachments
-
1.2 MB Views: 18
-
1.2 MB Views: 20
-
1.2 MB Views: 20
-
192.7 KB Views: 19
-
1.1 MB Views: 18