June 20th, 2006
keeping up with the spiders
As mentioned in this morning’s post, I’ll probably be posting a little more frequently this week. I’ve fallen behind in writing about the interesting things that I’m seeing, so I’ll try to write a few notes to do a bit of catching up.
If you’ve been following my blog for awhile, you’ll know that I’m quite interested in spider behaviour, and particularly, the behaviour of female spiders that like to guard their egg cases. This afternoon, I found another nice example to add to the growing number of accounts.
Today’s spider is a Crab Spider (Thomisidae) — I think the species may be Xysticus emertoni**. I first found her on June 16th, resting quietly on the tip of a stem of the extremely fragrant “Blanc Double de Couvert” rose bush in the garden. The rose is a very old variety that was used for rose oil production, so the blooms are quite oily and sticky. When I first spotted the spider, she didn’t seem to be in a very good location for hunting — being too far away from the blooms to effectivelly ambush any of the insects that were visiting the roses. I checked on her several hours later and she hadn’t moved. I checked again the next day and she was in the same spot as on the previous day. Today, when I visited, I found that she had constructed a small refuge by fastening a few leaves together with silk. I examined the shelter and found that she had attached an egg case to the underside of the “roof”. When I approached, the spider immediately moved into a defensive position and wrapped her legs protectively around the egg case (see above – click on image for larger view). I’ll try to visit her over the next while to photograph any developments and add the data to my records.
And by the way, while I’m on the subject of records, for anyone who is interested in submitting spider observations to the Nearctic Spider Database, visit this page to learn how to do so using the new “visitor comments” feature. What should you submit? Records of sightings should include general location, date and any other interesting observations concerning the spider’s behaviour, habitat, etc… How do you do it? Read the basic instructions, and then look up the species page for the species you wish to report — and away you go.
**Note: The ID on this spider has been edited since I wrote this post. The spider is more likely Xysticus emertoni rather than X. audax.
Tags: Crab Spider, Thomisidae, Xysticus audax, maternal spiders