Spider - Cyclosa conica - BugGuide.Net

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Photo#50371

Copyright © 2006 Mardon Erbland

Spider - Cyclosa conica -

Logy Bay, Northeast Avalon, Newfoundland/Labrador, Canada
May 2, 2006
Size: 5 mm (incl. sacs on head)

I found this spider hanging from one of his threads in a tree in our backyard. In the area where I live, the leaves are just beginning to bud but are not yet open. I put the spider in a plastic peanut butter jar to carry him over to the spot where I had my camera set up. The jar had a blue lid and that's what he's crawling around in the photos. I found him at about 5:45 PM local time (NDT).

What are those sacs on the front of his/her head? In the larger (original) photos, the black eyes are clearly visible but they are not quite as easy to distinguish in these smaller images. Can anyone ID this spider?

Images of this individual: tag all

Spider (subadult) - Cyclosa conica - male

Spider - Cyclosa conica - male

Spider - Cyclosa conica - male

Contributed by Mardon Erbland on 2 May, 2006 - 5:46pm
Last updated 3 May, 2006 - 12:44am

i

wonder if this is a male Cyclosa sp. in the family of orb weavers. the 'sacs' are pedipalps which are sensory organs in spiders. in male spiders, they also carry sperm when the male is ready to mate. that is why i say male and that is why i say this spider is ready to mate

… Omar Fahmy, 2 May, 2006 - 6:54pm

Male

yes, adult no. Cyclosa sp. probably conica.
Only adult males are sexually mature. This is a subadult.

… Jeff Hollenbeck, 3 May, 2006 - 12:42am

Thanks.

Thanks Jeff, and Omar too, for the information and ID.

… Mardon Erbland, 3 May, 2006 - 5:43am

I like

Nice color contrast you have going here. Congrats!

… Sasha Azevedo, 2 May, 2006 - 9:06pm

The Blue Colour

Thank you Sasha. The blue colour is from the lid of a plastic peanut butter jar. I used the jar to carry the spider from our backyard up to our driveway, where I already had my camera and flash arranged on a couple of tripods. When I took the lid off the jar, the spider started crawling around it, so I just photographed him that way.

… Mardon Erbland, 3 May, 2006 - 5:48am

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