![]() |
Nursery Web Spider – Pisaurina sp. Family Pisauridae Nursery Web and fishing spiders Spider Index | Spider Main | Orb Web | Cobweb |
![]()
Custom Search
|
The nursery web spider carries her egg-sac, or coccoon, under her body until near hatching. She then spins a protective web in which her hatchlings live until their first moult.
These spiders resemble the wolf spiders (Lycosidae), but have a different eye pattern. Pisaurids have their eyes arranged in 2 rows, the posterior row slightly recurved, the median eyes in the second row slighly (if any) larger than the others. (Wolf spiders have eyes arranged in 3 rows). The egg sac is carried by the female under her prosoma, held there by her chelicerae and pedipalps. It is further supported by silk lines to the spinnerets. [1] Before the eggs hatch, the female attaches the sac to a plant and then builds a web around it. When the eggs inside are hatching, the momma spider opens the cocoon and releases the hatchlings — then stands guard nearby. The hatchlings remain in the web until thier first moult. The Pisaurids forage for their food and build webs only for protecting their young. |
Some spiders in this family, particularly fishing spiders in the genus Dolomedes, are quite large and may have a legspread of 75 mm or more.The Dolomedes spiders live near water; they walk on the surface of water and dive underneath it to feed on aquatic insects and even small fish. Fishing spiders also carry their egg-sac under their abdomen.
![]() Nursery web filled with hundreds of spiderlings |
![]() 1280 X 960 |
![]() 1024 X 768 |
![]() |
References
|
Wondering how to get that bug identified? Please see the kind folks at Bugguide.net. (North America) North American Insects & Spiders is dedicated to macro photography of live, wild organisms in situ. |
![]() |
North American Insects & Spiders Explore over 3,000 close-up photos and information on over 700 arthropod species commonly found in North America. Our live insects & spiders have been photographed unposed, in the wild, at various locations in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Spiders Index | Spiders Main | Beetles | Butterflies | Stinging Insects |