sford122 Loc: Amarillo TX

I shot these yesterday. I know I've seen this spider posted on UHH macro before, but have forgotten what it is. Would someone be able to ID for me? The other 2... I don't remember seeing before. All 4 cropped in LR5 to 1:1 square and PP adjustments (sharpening and noise reduction).

Don't know what it has in mouth...?

(Download)

Underside...

(Download)


(Download)


(Download)

gym Loc: Athens, Georgia

I think the first two are photos of a feather-legged orb weaver. The third may be an egg sac.

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

I suspect that this may be a common house spider, aka Comb-footed spider, (Achaearanea tepidariorum) which is a cobweb spinner, not an orbweaver. Was the web disorganized or circular?
http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/spiders/common_house_spider.htm
http://www.spiders.us/species/parasteatoda-tepidariorum

sford122 Loc: Amarillo TX

Thanks gym. I think it is an egg sac too. It was located about 3 or 4 feet down the fence from the location of this spider. However, today I checked on the spider and she had made another sac. Picture posted below. I may need to get an ID from Bug Guide.

(Download)

sford122 Loc: Amarillo TX

I checked out the two links and the body shape just doesn't look quite right to me. (I certainly may be wrong though. Think I'll submit the picture of her w/sac (?) to Bug Guide for ID.) Not an orb weaver shaped web for sure, but not what I normally think of as cobweb either. She is located on the gate of our chain link fence. Yesterday, it looked like she was eating or working on a multi-colored food cube of some sort and today's egg sac (?) was there, several times larger but similar in shape to the cube she was working on yesterday. Do spiders ever spin food inside of the egg sac for the babies to devour when they hatch? Just a thought.

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

Not too my knowledge.

sford122 Loc: Amarillo TX

I just submitted it to Bug Guide. Once ID is given, will do more research. Always interesting, anyway!

sford122 Loc: Amarillo TX

Per Bug Guide: Female Cribellate Orb Weaver (Uloborus glomosus). So it is an orb weaver, gym. :) Bug Guide showed a picture of her with a string of 7 egg sacs. Very cool. Typically hangs upside-down from a web string. http://bugguide.net/node/view/289073

Good info: http://bugeric.blogspot.com/2012/02/spider-sunday-featherlegged-orb-weavers.html

Coolcameragirl Loc: Bradenton, FL

Nice catch!

sford122 Loc: Amarillo TX

Thanks! I'm going to keep an eye on this one for a few days to see if she adds additional egg sacs. What fun!

tinusbum Loc: east texas

thats what i was going to say :mrgreen: i see a lot of those.nice shots especially the last

sford122 Loc: Amarillo TX

Thanks Tom. I thought I remembered seeing a post of yours similar to this, but I couldn't find it. They are very interesting and this one didn't look like a spider in the web the first day I saw it. I thought it was just trash.

gym Loc: Athens, Georgia

Yep. the 'feather-legged' - or cribillate orb weaver has a distinctive look when it's in the web. You can't see the calamistrum on the legs, but it's really neat - a comb of hairs that is used to 'comb' and direct a special silk produces by another special structure - the cribellum. All this to say that they just have a very distinctive look about them.
Here's a link to the ' comb' of spines on the metatarsus of the fourth leg.
http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/userpix/96_calamistrum20x2mMF_1web_1.jpg

sford122 Loc: Amarillo TX

That is one neat macro shot of the comb. I was reading this morning how the hatchlings do not have the calamistrum or the cribellum so they build a different kind of web as soon as they hatch, unlike that of the adults. They have to wait until after their first molt to weave a regular web. I just love this stuff!

relbugman Loc: MD/FL/CA/SC

Common descriptive names (orb web spiders) provide an easy ID, but one that is quite misleading. The two biggest families of orb weavers are closely related (sometimes combined, sometimes with genera switched back and forth): Araneidae - the most common 'orb weavers', with usually vertical webs - and Tetragnathidae - Long-jawed and Orchard spiders, usually with webs angled ~45 degrees, often with an uneven or partial orb. Neither have calamistra or cribellum, and spin single-strand webs except when wrapping prey or partly for making egg sacs.
On the other hand, the Feather-legged spiders (Uloboridae) are not at all closely related, and their webs, while somewhat imitating orbs, are very different. The cribellum and calimistrum are used to produce 'hackled webs' that often have a blue-grayish tinge, and if you look closely, have a loopy covering (hackles: tangles not stickyness) very different from the sticky webs of other orb spiders. The web is usually triangular or a partial wheel, most often horizontal, and lacks the 'stabilimentum', the cross or zipper, common in Araneids.
Why this diatribe??? It's just that the simple common name is so misleading. I much prefer 'Feather-legged' because it implies so much more information about the spiders, and emphasizes the wondrous diversity. Oh, and the eyes are different, too; the back side eyes (PLE) are behind the others, and well separated from the front side eyes (ALE), and they often are on tubercles depending on the species.
Just ignore me, if way too much.
Oh, and great photos!!!