- Joined
- Oct 3, 2002
- Messages
- 105
Sorry I haven't been around alot (not that anyone REALLY misses me.. lol) but the challenges of homeownership have been overwhelming to say the least!!
During the latest project on my "Honey-Do" list it required digging out the stump of a Hawthorn tree we had cut down last year. About four scoops into the job I noticed a shiney blackish thing in the dirt pile. It was a rather large trapdoor spider (not sure of exact species at this moment). I got a small container, captured it, and resumed digging. Now finding one of those while digging is a stroke of luck most of the time, but by the time I got done digging all the way around that stump (hole is approx 4' wide and 18" deep) I had collected 4 of these spiders and had released prolly 15 smaller ones away from where I was digging. All of thier burrows were quite close to the tree stump itself and were quite close (within 1-2") in proximity to one another. Makes me wonder if these spiders live perhaps in a bit of a "loose" colony? Food for thought anyways.
The four specimins that I kept are all gravid females. Here is a pic I took of the largest. She is so full of eggs you can see them through the abdomen. This was just so cool to see I had to share it here... Hope you like!
CLICK the photo for a larger image...
During the latest project on my "Honey-Do" list it required digging out the stump of a Hawthorn tree we had cut down last year. About four scoops into the job I noticed a shiney blackish thing in the dirt pile. It was a rather large trapdoor spider (not sure of exact species at this moment). I got a small container, captured it, and resumed digging. Now finding one of those while digging is a stroke of luck most of the time, but by the time I got done digging all the way around that stump (hole is approx 4' wide and 18" deep) I had collected 4 of these spiders and had released prolly 15 smaller ones away from where I was digging. All of thier burrows were quite close to the tree stump itself and were quite close (within 1-2") in proximity to one another. Makes me wonder if these spiders live perhaps in a bit of a "loose" colony? Food for thought anyways.
The four specimins that I kept are all gravid females. Here is a pic I took of the largest. She is so full of eggs you can see them through the abdomen. This was just so cool to see I had to share it here... Hope you like!
CLICK the photo for a larger image...
