ground crab spider building a web- why??

[purrusaurus]

everyone I've showed this spider to has ID'ed it as xysticus, and as far as I've researched, they don't really web, they hunt.

i had her in a more horizontal space without anywhere proper for her to hang upside down that she seemed to like. she's been in here for two days now and done this. can't see eggs in it. is it just so she can grip the ceiling better? is she getting ready for eggs? molt?? she did take a cricket just two days ago...

it was very softly attached to the bottom of the fake leaf, and is like, a hollow hammock inside. she got pissed when i moved the leaf. does she just chill in there, maybe she wants it as an ambush spot?

 

[purrusaurus]

been like half an hour since i disturbed her. she's only readjusted to sit more on top of it. hasn't threat posed, just seemed crabby (hehe). zero abdomen action happening. it kinda just looks like a tummy blanket

 

[aaarg]

there's definitely nothing inside? Xysticus guard their eggsacs like that

 

[viper69]

If I was a spider held captive in a foreign environment I’d make a web too

 

[purrusaurus]

If I was a spider held captive in a foreign environment I’d make a web too

me too!!! the strange part is that I'd had her in her previous enclosure for at least a month and she only sort of webbed up the walls for extra grip! first time I've ever seen her make something solid white

there's definitely nothing inside? Xysticus guard their eggsacs like that

without taking the wood out, I'm pretty sure !!! here she is even holding it open, I can see through it to the other side. unless xysticus eggs are microscopic and they slather them like a paste instead of in a ball then I can't find any in there


edit: she hasn't changed size, either, which I've definitely seen happen to my gravid steatoda after she lays an eggsac

 

[purrusaurus]

...if i was concerned this was an eggsac.... could i remove her for a little while and just freeze the enclosure to make sure they don't hatch? much as I'd love to get into sling-rearing in the future, my parents have firmly let me know that will be when I'm in a place of my own, lol.

 

[purrusaurus]

QUICK UPDATE, i just managed to remove mama xysticus so i could take a proper look without her getting too fussy. she did not want to get off of it, and she's pretty pissed off in her separate container right now.
this is all that was there. it separated from the wood extremely cleanly. ...IS that an eggsac?! it's so small!!! that has to be like, three eggs in there! it looks like a little dirt spot! it doesn't even have three dimensions!!

 

[aaarg]

well at least now you don't have to worry about babies lol

sometimes unmated spiders produce infertile egg sacs. not sure if that's the case here, or just a small number of eggs, or what.

 

[CRX]

That is an eggsac. I wouldnt have messed with it personally. Ive had jumpers lay similar dark colored tiny sacs before.

 

[purrusaurus]

That is an eggsac. I wouldnt have messed with it personally. Ive had jumpers lay similar dark colored tiny sacs before.

i didn't want to!!! i just can't take care of a bunch of babies right now, i was going to just put the entire box in our freezer so i didn't have to dig around, but we didn't even have room for the piece of wood it was on i was just trying to make sure they weren't a big cluster i couldn't make out, and wouldn't hatch but in a way that she felt she could still take care of it. and she has been very diligently since i reunited her with it!!

if she does this again in the future, i *will* leave it alone completely, as 3 baby spiders seems manageable to me and an infertile sac even more so. i doubt she could surprise me with a bigger one next time but I'll knock on wood!

 

[CRX]

i didn't want to!!! i just can't take care of a bunch of babies right now, i was going to just put the entire box in our freezer so i didn't have to dig around, but we didn't even have room for the piece of wood it was on i was just trying to make sure they weren't a big cluster i couldn't make out, and wouldn't hatch but in a way that she felt she could still take care of it. and she has been very diligently since i reunited her with it!!

if she does this again in the future, i *will* leave it alone completely, as 3 baby spiders seems manageable to me and an infertile sac even more so. i doubt she could surprise me with a bigger one next time but I'll knock on wood!

No worries, ive similarly (unintentionally) brutalized my momma Steatoda trying to extricate babies from the enclosure... I'm just happy shes still kicking with me.

In the future, if the sac is a tiny black dot, its infertile and you dont have to worry about removing it.