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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Chelicerates (Chelicerata) » Arachnids (Arachnida) » Spiders (Araneae) » True Spiders (Araneomorphae) » Entelegynae » Sac Spiders (Clubionidae)
Photo#50342
Sac Spider
Copyright © 2006 Mardon Erbland

Sac Spider
Logy Bay, Northeast Avalon, Newfoundland/Labrador, Canada
May 2, 2006
Size: 18 mm body (approx)
I snapped a small dead branch off of a tree in our back yard today and when I looked at the broken end, there was a spider emerging from a cocoon like sac within the branch. The hollow space inside the branch was 5 mm in diameter. Unfortunately, I was not able to get a photo before the spider had completely emerged from his home. I did take several after he began crawling around (and FAST too!) Can anyone help with an ID? I found the spider about 1:30 PM local time (NDT).

Images of this individual: tag all
Sac Spider Sac Spider Sac Spider's 'Home' Sac Spider Sac Spider Sac Spider Sac Spider
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Contributed by Mardon Erbland on 2 May, 2006 - 1:19pm
Last updated 3 May, 2006 - 5:56am

Sac Spider
This is a sac spider (probably in the family Clubionidae, but I am not extremely intimate with this family, so it could also be in a closely related family). One of our experts can probably give you a more definite ID. I would also say it is male.

Very nice images! The "cocoon" you found was actually it's "sac". Sac spiders are nocturnal hunting spiders, and only build a "web" in a secluded place to rest or nest in; otherwise it searches for and stalks it prey. They can be lightning fast, just as you saw. My guess is that he was resting when you stumbled into him. :)
… Christopher Hunt, 2 May, 2006 - 1:57pm login or register to post comments

 
Sac Spider
Thank you Christopher! I can't believe how much I've been learning about 'bugs' since I started posting photos here. :)

I had no idea that the sac inside that branch was the spider's home, where he was sleeping during the day. Amazing! Thanks for offering your tentative ID of the Family. I hope one of the experts to whom you refer can offer a Genus and maybe even the species.
… Mardon Erbland, 2 May, 2006 - 6:01pm login or register to post comments

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