Spiderling - BugGuide.Net

egg sac on "clothesline"

Theridiosomatids have egg sacs suspended on stalks that often look like a "Y". They are more tear drop shaped than this one. I find them in moist places, but I have never collected the spider!

… Barbara J Abraham, 12 February, 2009 - 12:11pm

Thanks for the comment

Yes, I have seen many Theridiosoma egg sacs, and have also never seen the spiders themselves. I hope to see their unique webs someday. My mystery egg sacs are initially suspended from a horizontal cord, but the one shown above had broken. I should post a better example but I haven't gotten around to it.

… Charley Eiseman, 12 February, 2009 - 12:22pm

Moved

Moved from Spiders. I thoroughly perused the spider eye arrangements, and that plus the abdominal pattern has me convinced of the family. If anyone has an alternative to offer, feel free to chime in!

… Charley Eiseman, 20 January, 2009 - 10:50pm

Hmmm -

I think this might end up being a Tetragnatha sp... The eye pattern, leg lengths and scaly abdomen remind me of a very similar immature spider I collected recently (I frassed the image - yours is much better):

Any luck in rearing this one?

… Ken Schneider, 19 August, 2008 - 6:40pm

Thanks for the thought--

The tetragnathid eye pattern does seem like a good match. The descriptions I've read of Tetragnatha egg sacs don't seem like this one, but maybe it's another genus in that family. Or, of course, it could be a Tetragnatha whose egg sac I haven't found a description for.

The rearing didn't work out, since I was on the road, but I'll try again in the future--I run into these egg sacs all the time.

… Charley Eiseman, 19 August, 2008 - 8:14pm