Steatoda sp? CA low desert

[buthus]

Posted this one in the field forum, but figured it get a better looksy here.
HOPE someone can help me ID it!
The mesh is 1/4", so its about the size of S.bipunctata...but SO much prettier!
Looks so much like Steatoda... eh?

 

[cacoseraph]

... ah... so the high desert is up the 15 and higher in elevation... and we're the *low* desert. sweet.


wow, that is a pretty little thing. almost a L. bishopi-esque carapace.


whoa, is that swirly stuff center-right of the spider, webbing? i almost want to say it can't be.

lol, it's another buttfuzz pic

 

[buthus]

... ah... so the high desert is up the 15 and higher in elevation... and we're the *low* desert. sweet.


wow, that is a pretty little thing. almost a L. bishopi-esque carapace.


whoa, is that swirly stuff center-right of the spider, webbing? i almost want to say it can't be.

lol, it's another buttfuzz pic

Actually Im not really sure if my use of "low desert" is correct. ?? It was explained to me once, but i was probably smoking. Something to do with sea level and how many bodies are buried there or something.

Swirly stuff is old webbing from former residents. (a half-way house so to speak) Webbing gets all curled up sometimes ..when stretched and screwed with.
I stopped adding actual buttfuzz some time back... never had any luck with the stuff. :?

 

[JLDomestics]

Cool spider. It does look like Steatoda, especially with those small "dents" on the back of the abdomen.

 

[cacoseraph]

hopefully neshan will be bringing you a present. these were all over where we looked today. i put 1.2 together in a little vial of his for him to give to you. the bigger fem was eating the smaller, last i saw, though. heh.

 

[buthus]

hopefully neshan will be bringing you a present. these were all over where we looked today. i put 1.2 together in a little vial of his for him to give to you. the bigger fem was eating the smaller, last i saw, though. heh.

Got em ...er...her. She was feasting on the male by the time Neshan got here. Bummer... hopeful she is just gravid. Desert specie...likely major opportunist...food is food. Maybe they mated too.
About an hour after Neshan delivered the Christmas gifts, I f'ingly accidentally knocked over the smaller of the ones we caught during the last outing ...loosening the structure within the enclosure, crushing her abdomon. Just pissed me off. She hung on, but I could tell she was toast so i fed her to a pal sling...tasty treat for it, total f-up for me.
So now I have two large females...the "big" one from the last trip and the one u guys gave me. Hopefully one/both is/are gravid! These are really cool ...if your into little insignificant spiders.
Oh... and my clumsiness didn't stop there. I saved the male carcass before she ate too much of him...to take a pic. Figured it may be awhile before we see another male. BUT, I lost the little guy... forgot it was on a sling cup and I suppose I added it to the dirt on the floor. doh!

I like these little "widows". Hope i can find some more and take a look at how they web and exactly where. Pretty much like other Steatoda I figure, but still would like to see it.

If you run across anymore, collect them if you have the time. I'd like a few more to up my odds of getting a sac.

And thanks!

 

[cacoseraph]

Got em ...er...her. She was feasting on the male by the time Neshan got here. Bummer... hopeful she is just gravid. Desert specie...likely major opportunist...food is food. Maybe they mated too.
About an hour after Neshan delivered the Christmas gifts, I f'ingly accidentally knocked over the smaller of the ones we caught during the last outing ...loosening the structure within the enclosure, crushing her abdomon. Just pissed me off. She hung on, but I could tell she was toast so i fed her to a pal sling...tasty treat for it, total f-up for me.
So now I have two large females...the "big" one from the last trip and the one u guys gave me. Hopefully one/both is/are gravid! These are really cool ...if your into little insignificant spiders.
Oh... and my clumsiness didn't stop there. I saved the male carcass before she ate too much of him...to take a pic. Figured it may be awhile before we see another male. BUT, I lost the little guy... forgot it was on a sling cup and I suppose I added it to the dirt on the floor. doh!

I like these little "widows". Hope i can find some more and take a look at how they web and exactly where. Pretty much like other Steatoda I figure, but still would like to see it.

If you run across anymore, collect them if you have the time. I'd like a few more to up my odds of getting a sac.

And thanks!

well, there was a lot more of these little guys this time. and i kept uncovering multiples under the same board, thus trying to store more than one in the same vial. hopefully their "season" won't pass before i get out there again.

 

[buthus]

well, there was a lot more of these little guys this time. and i kept uncovering multiples under the same board, thus trying to store more than one in the same vial. hopefully their "season" won't pass before i get out there again.

I gotta get out there because it is a great source of rocks. (need em for the landscaping I'm doing) I hope I can find some time very soon ...maybe this coming weekend.

Did you guys see any more of those small bright copper colored beetles?

 

[cacoseraph]

I gotta get out there because it is a great source of rocks. (need em for the landscaping I'm doing) I hope I can find some time very soon ...maybe this coming weekend.

Did you guys see any more of those small bright copper colored beetles?

AND rocks *should* be considerably easier to catch


actually, i don't remember seeing any more of the copper beetles. we went to the westernmost block of the wastelands, where i have only gone a couple few times before in the whole two to three years i have been hunting there.