Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar

TaxonomyBrowseInfoImagesLinksBooksData
Photo#363361
Tufted spider egg sac

Tufted spider egg sac
Elkton, Douglas County, Oregon, USA
September 4, 2009
Egg sac is on Douglas Fir.

A new direction
from Ken Wolgemuth. Possibly not a spider egg sac, after all.

:-P)

 
Not the same...
The fuzzball in the linked photo may well be an adelgid, but I still feel good about calling yours a spider egg sac.

Moved
Moved from ID Request. Spider egg sacs like this are awfully common--I will definitely collect any I come across in the future, to try and get to the bottom of this.

 
I surprised myself
when I went through my specimen jars. I found one of my small carry-around jars hidden behind two caterpillar specimens. That little spice jar contains a spider nest just like the one in the picture. I barely remember collecting it. It's not the same nest that's in the above photo, but it does look identical, and it's also fastened to a Douglas Fir needle. I'll take a photo of the new nest and anything that might come out of it - I assume they should hatch in late spring, early summer. If something does emerge, I'll post what I find. Since I've never tried incubating a spider's nest, any suggestions on how to be a good dad?

 
It's pretty straightforward...
As with rearing anything over the winter, it's good to have it exposed to the light & temperature conditions it would normally experience (e.g., put the jar by a window in a garage or unheated porch). The more challenging thing will be raising the spiderlings, since it is unlikely an ID will be possible at this stage (maybe the family can be determined, but almost certainly not species). Jay Barnes has raised a lot of jumping spiders, so he might have some good advice. I'm not sure who else has experience with spiderling raising, but if you made a post on the general forum, I would be interested in following the discussion.

Moved
Moved from Spiders.

Next time I find one of these, I'll stick it in a jar and see what comes out - didn't even think of that when I found it.

Not sure
Could this have been produced by an insect?

 
If you're asking me that question,
I'm one of the least qualified at BG to ID anything, especially spiders. I did, however, guess at spider egg sac because of this post , this post and this post .

 
Give this a try ...
Why not move the picture to the general ID Request page for now, because it wouldn't hurt for some insect people to see it. If it turns out to be from a spider we can always move it back, but I wouldn't rule out the insect possibility at this point.

Might as well cover all the bases before narrowing it down. :)

Nice shot, BTW.

Comment viewing options
Select your preferred way to display the comments and click 'Save settings' to activate your changes.