A number of egg sacs that look like this (to my eye) were moved to Corinnidae without explanation a while ago, e.g.:

I'm not really sure what belongs where.

I'd guess more research needs to be done, and I can't be sure Rod and I are correct here. Also, I saw one of those in the Corinnidae was the size of a dime. That's huge compared to mine.

A few days ago, on nature safari, I did a lot of leaf-litter and under rock collecting. I got a couple of these, or at least ones that look just like it. I collected them and am going to attempt to see what hatches out. I examined it under a light and can see the individual eggs (not as many as I would've thought) and there doesn't seem to be anything odd in there, like a parasite or whatever, so I'm crossing my fingers for a nice batch of spiderlings. It looks like the contestants might be either gnaphosids or corrinids. Not sure which, and have never reared any of those before.

Looks like a little blue friend in the upper left of your photo, too. :)

I hope you have good luck with your egg sacs. Raising baby spiders isn't my favorite thing. I never feel very confident with what I'm feeding them.

I tried to photograph my little blue friend, but none of them turned out. I'll probably go back and try again some day. I'm always impressed by blue bugs.

Yeah, it's not always the most exciting thing to do (it's more fun to keep adults)... but I really love watching their life cycles... and of course, finding out what species they are (if I didn't already know). I usually cut open the egg sac as soon as I can tell they've hatched and then watch their growth starting at that point. They look like little stay puft marshmallow kiddies at first, before they ever leave the egg sac (which can usually be over a week later).


As for feeding them, not that you asked or wanted to know, but what I do is keep the entire batch in a closely confined area (something like a medium-sized jelly jar). That way, once they've all left the egg sac, they can easily cannibalize each other. This cuts down on the sheer amount of spiderlings, keeps the strong hunters fed, and keeps at least part of the batch alive for me to rear to adulthood. So truly, there's not much that you have to do, if you use my murderous method, lol. Just let 'em hatch and eat each other...and then scoop out the biggest few and rear them to adulthood. I have also tried the fruit fly method once, but quickly decided I didn't like having all those maggots around.

Once a few of the good hunters get to about 2-3mm (will take almost 2-4 months depending on the species and how often they feed), separate them and put them in their own small jar (one per jar). They will then do really well on small crickets. If the pet store/dealer doesn't have crickets 4mm and under, then don't get them. The crickets need to be the true small, like on the professional feed suppliers scale (sometimes referred to as 1 weekers- meaning the crickets are 1 week old). I get mine from Fluker's. You can have them delivered in bulk (50, 100, 250, etc.) if you go to their website (http://www.flukerfarms.com/), but I usually go to Tropical Fish World & Pets in Sumner (I mention the name only because I know you live in a nearby area). They sell Fluker's crickets there in 30 packs and have all three sizes. They come in a nice plastic lidded container, rather than those dumb plastic bags like the bigger corporate pet stores do... and cost under $4 per box. The nice thing with this brand is that they include cricket food (some kind of dried or candied fruit) inside the box, so they stay alive much longer than other store's crickets.

Ok, geez. I kinda made this pretty lengthy, lol. Oh, well. Maybe it'll help somebody else in the future.

Anyways, yeah, I'll try to get some live ones out of those egg cases that look like yours. Maybe that way we'll have a confirmed account of whether they're corrinid or gnaphosid.

We have a newt, so I've bought crickets at Tropical Fish World & Pets in Sumner many times! As for the spiders, I think it's the cannibalism that gets to me. Also, the container gets pretty smelly if you leave a dead cricket in with them. I sound like such a girl! I don't think raising baby spiders is for me.

Newts are really cool! I used to have a salamander that wouldn't eat anything but slugs. It would ignore everything else, lol.

Yep, the stinky jars are one drawback. On some of my jars that house larger spiders who eat and poop more, I've started using a folded paper towel as the lid (holding it in place with a thick rubber band). This regulates the moisture and also allows some air circulation... which cuts down on nasty, concentrated bacteria odors by probably at least 60%. I wish I had a nice, spacious 'bug lab' of some kind so that all my spiders could have their own terrariums. Maybe someday. But until then, stinky jars in the kitchen will have to do, LOL.

What a coincidence that I mentioned Tropical Fish World & Pets! Do you ever get claustrophobic back in the fish area? Haha, I do! Everything is so squished together. I feel like the tanks are just going to fall on me at any moment. I suppose that's how all pets stores are, though.

try that paper towel trick. That's a good idea.

That pet store is very crowded with stuff, but I'm not one to feel claustrophobic. :) It's probably a good thing because my daughter loves to stand back there and stare at the lizards. I have to drag her out of there. That reminds me, we'll have to meet up this summer for bug hunting. I'm doing this new project for Morse Wildife system & Pierce County trying to help them create an insect baseline. Do you know where the Morse Wildlife Preserve is? I think we'll be there this weekend.

It seems like I've heard of it before but I've never been there, nor do I know how to get there (I'm sure the internet will tell me, though). My dad's birthday is this weekend, so I won't be able to make it to Morse (I bought a funny pink piñata and a keg of root beer, lol). It would be fun to meet up at some other point in time, though. It would be a first for me, as I have always done my 'hunting' solo. I'm sure having someone else there would only make it more fun. :)

Your new project sounds fun! I would love to learn how you came upon it, if you don't mind telling. That type of thing is what I would love to do for the Enumclaw area... but I haven't been proactive enough to see if maybe the city would finance me, or if I'd just have to wing-it on my own. I would need some more equipment (scopes, collection vials, a gps, etc.), though, so it would be a while before I could really do anything serious.