- Joined
- Mar 23, 2008
- Messages
- 149
As long as I have lived here in S.E. Michigan, I have seen what we usually call a "pine spider." They are usually found in pine trees, under bark, and in woodpiles. Sometimes in the summer, I have parked under a pine tree and found many of them crawling on my car.
They are very, very flat. The colouring can range from mottled brown or grey to yellowish, sometimes with a tinge of green. They resemble a crab spider most closely (Thomisidae), though I am SURE these are not Misumenia vatia, xysticus, or anything of the sort. The size ranges from 3 mm to about 6 mm (body).
I need to get a closer look at the eye pattern, but I believe these are actually a Selenops sp.
I've tried to research native Michigan spider species MANY times, but very little is on the internet pertaining to this search. The only Selenops photos, or any info I can find is all about Floridian or African ones!
Are Selenops sp. native to Michigan and the eastern states?
ANYWAY, I found what I suspect to be one crawling across the windshield of my car yesterday, so I picked it up and put it in my woodpile, where I had also found another similar spider a few days before.
Later that day, I noticed a flat-looking egg sac near my passenger side window. I'm pretty sure it must have belonged to the spider I saw earlier that day. I count at least 30 spherical yellow eggs inside, the size of the tip of a needle.
I have collected the sac, and HOPEFULLY, I will be able to study these spiders more closely when the spiderlings hatch-- and POSSIBLY make an ID!
Has anyone else ever found or kept these sort of spiders in the Tri-State area?
They are very, very flat. The colouring can range from mottled brown or grey to yellowish, sometimes with a tinge of green. They resemble a crab spider most closely (Thomisidae), though I am SURE these are not Misumenia vatia, xysticus, or anything of the sort. The size ranges from 3 mm to about 6 mm (body).
I need to get a closer look at the eye pattern, but I believe these are actually a Selenops sp.
I've tried to research native Michigan spider species MANY times, but very little is on the internet pertaining to this search. The only Selenops photos, or any info I can find is all about Floridian or African ones!
Are Selenops sp. native to Michigan and the eastern states?
ANYWAY, I found what I suspect to be one crawling across the windshield of my car yesterday, so I picked it up and put it in my woodpile, where I had also found another similar spider a few days before.
Later that day, I noticed a flat-looking egg sac near my passenger side window. I'm pretty sure it must have belonged to the spider I saw earlier that day. I count at least 30 spherical yellow eggs inside, the size of the tip of a needle.
I have collected the sac, and HOPEFULLY, I will be able to study these spiders more closely when the spiderlings hatch-- and POSSIBLY make an ID!
Has anyone else ever found or kept these sort of spiders in the Tri-State area?
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