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Photo#39885
Webspinner sexes compared - Oligotoma nigra - male - female

Webspinner sexes compared - Oligotoma nigra - Male Female
Las Cruces, Dona Ana County, New Mexico, USA
December 27, 2005
Size: 9 - 10 mm
Found winged webspinner under loose bark in woodpile near where I found same-sized wingless one a few days earlier. There were web tunnels evident. Here the two are compared, with a major question being, "Are they the same species?"

They differ in color, head size, and length of both the antennae and the double do-dads on their posterior, although I probably shouldn't refer to them with such highly technical terminology ;-) Do these differences signify different species or merely sexual differences?

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Webspinner sexes compared - Oligotoma nigra - male - female Webspinner sexes compared - Oligotoma nigra - male - female Webspinner sexes compared - Oligotoma nigra - male - female Webspinner sexes compared - Oligotoma nigra - male

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