spidersandmoreblog

Steatoda grossa: The continuing saga.

SgrossaMomma — Female Steatoda grossa (The momma)

As you may recall I posted about my Steatoda grossa on July 9^th, 2015.

FemaleYoung — Steatoda grossa (Female offspring from first egg sac)

MaleYoung — Steatoda grossa (male offspring from first egg sac)

IMG_2298cn — Steatoda grossa female with egg sac #9

She was mated on May 24^th, 2015, and since that time she has produced a number of egg sacs, and hundreds of offspring. On March 3^rd, 2016 I was amazed to see her produce her ninth egg sac. She has been captive for over a year, and she has only had one encounter with a male when mating occurred. (Although there have been times when her offspring have stayed in the enclosure with her, none of them have reached maturity before they were released.) When sperm is delivered to a female spider it is coiled and encased in a proteinaceous sheath (Vöcking, Uhl and Michalik 2013) and it is known that the sperm is stored in the female in an “inactive” state, and is only activated when the female starts laying her eggs (Foelix 2011). It was shown that for Latrodectus hasselti (Redback Spiders) one mating encounter (even with a single insertion event) was enough to fertilize the females eggs for her lifetime (Andrade and Banta 2002) which could be years long. So although it is not ground breaking news it still caught me a little off guard that 284 days after she was originally mated that she was able to produce a viable egg sac.

EggSacUV — Steatoda grossa egg sac number 9. (Left under white light, and right under UV light)

An interesting note: One day I was using a UV flashlight to look at some other specimens, and for no specific reason I decided to expose several of my captive spiders to UV light to see if I saw anything interesting. When I illuminated the Steatoda gross enclosure I noticed that there were particles in the developing egg sac that were highly reflective under the UV light. I had some of her hatched egg sacs and placed one under my microscope. I took pictures with regular white light, and with UV (black) light. Sorry that the picture quality isn’t better, but I only have a small hand held UV flashlight, and it isn’t very bright. As you can see there are particles in the old egg sac that are also very reflective of UV light. These appear to be the chorion of the old eggs. Chorion is the outer covering of the individual eggs (Foelix 2011), similar to the egg shell on a chicken egg. This egg shell is cast off and the larval spider remains in the egg sac while they continue to develop (Foelix 2011). This implied to me that at this point the eggs had hatched, and now I was just waiting for them to be mature enough to emerge from the egg sac.

OldEggsacUV — Steatoda grossa hatched egg sac under white light (left) and UV (right)

On April 16^th, 2016, I was pleased to find that the spiderlings had emerged from their egg sac, and approximately 50 young spiders now share the enclosure with the female. Although I haven’t counted every individual I would estimate that each egg sac has contained at least 50 offspring. As this was her 9^th successful egg sac I would estimate she has produced at least 450 offspring! Having baby spiders emerge is always an exciting event, and I had been checking the enclosure regularly anticipating their arrival.

YoungNine — Steatoda grossa spiderlings from egg sac 9.

EggSac1 — Steatoda grossa starting to construct an egg sac

On April 11^th, a little after 2:30pm, when I popped in to see if there were young spiders yet, I saw the female acting in an odd manner. At first I thought she might be tickling the egg sac, but soon realized that she was trimming her silk in an area of the web near the egg sac, creating an opening. The only reason I could think of that she would need an open area in the middle of the web for was to place another egg sac. I grabbed my camera and sat patiently photographing and taking video (which you can watch here) of the ensuing events. Once she had a clear area she started to lay down a pad of dense silk. This silk seemed to take tremendous effort to spin, and several times during the process she would pause. It wasn’t long before the dense silk was clearly visible, and I knew that egg sac number 10 was under construction.

She worked spinning the egg sac covering for about an hour and, when she shifted position, I had the honor of watching her lay her eggs. That step in the process only took minutes, and then she was back to spinning the silk covering to protect her young. By 5:30pm the egg sac was complete and she rested off to the side of her creation. She appeared shriveled up due to the loss in mass from her abdomen, but regained her figure by the next morning. So now the countdown in on for the next emergence of young, which I will be eagerly anticipating! (So for those of you keeping track this egg sac was laid 323 days after mating!)

EggSac2 — Steatoda grossa putting the final touches on her egg sac

Andrade, Maydianne CB, and Erin M. Banta. “Value of male remating and functional sterility in redback spiders.” Animal Behaviour 63.5 (2002): 857-870.

Foelix, Rainer F.,. 2011. Biology of spiders. Oxford; Toronto: Oxford University Press.

Vöcking, Oliver, Gabriele Uhl, and Peter Michalik. “Sperm dynamics in spiders (Araneae): ultrastructural analysis of the sperm activation process in the Garden Spider Argiope bruennichi (Scopoli, 1772).” PloS one 8.9 (2013): e72660.

Glen Echo Bioblitz 2015

On May 16^th, 2015 I participated in my third Glen Echo Bioblitz. (I know I am running a little behind keeping my blog updated.) The Glen Echo ravine is located in the Clintonville area of Columbus, Ohio. Although it is surrounded by a matrix of urbanization, it is a nice little wildlife refuge. We found many interesting things, including several that had not been noted in previous years.

One of the spider families that I think is often overlooked is Segestriidae, commonly called tube web spiders. These spiders only have six eyes (they lack anterior median eyes) and have paired tracheal spiracles next to the book lungs. The construct a silken tube retreat, often in decaying wood or amongst debris, (Bradley et al. 2013) that has a few “trip lines” radiating from the opening. They spend their time in the tube waiting for something to trigger one of those trip lines. When in their tube they are unique in resting with three pairs of legs pointed anteriorly, and only one pair of legs positioned posteriorly (Bradley et al. 2013). Ariadna bicolor is the only species of Segestriidae found in our area.

Not everything that looks like an ant is an ant. Synemosyna formica is a jumping spider (Salticidae) that mimics ants in its appearance. Their mimicry is so convincing that Dr. Rich Bradley conveyed in his book that an entomologist he knew once found one pinned in an ant collection (Bradley et al. 2013). Like most jumping spiders this is an active hunter, chasing down its prey and pouncing on it.

Hentzia mitrata is a very handsome spider, well at least in my opinion. The males have enlarged front legs that are covered in white setae, which is a beautiful contrast to the golden coloration of the top of its carapace and abdomen. I had read about the fact that the males raises his legs as part of the courtship dance he performs for the female (Bradley) and was surprised to see two males interacting. You can watch the video here. I apologize that the video is not the best quality, but the habitat near where the spiders were interacting posed a challenge to me getting close enough without disturbing them. If you look closely at the start of the video you will see a female (top center) move to the underside of a leaf. It appears that the males are comparing leg length, maybe in a fight for dominance of the area, or as a way to impress the on looking female.

Thymoites unimaculatus, close up of epigynum (right)

I have stated before that many spiders cannot be identified by a photo alone, and many are too small to even make a good educated guess on identification in the field. It is not uncommon for me to return from a bioblitz with vials of spiders. If I can I try to identify them by placing the live spider under my microscope and photographing the important features. One that I was successful in this with was Thymoites unimaculatus. These are small Theridiidae (cobweb spiders), maybe 2mm in total body length, so can be easily missed. Luckily this female positioned herself such that I could get a reasonable photo of the epigynum for identification.

There were numerous Pardosa sp. (Lycosidae: wolf spiders) throughout the ravine. Lycosidae males are also known to dance for the females, and I often see the males drumming their pedipalps on the substrate. One of the ways to tell that a spider is male is the “boxing gloves” he seems to have on his pedipalps. I thought this little Pardosa male looked more like he was wearing mittens! You can watch a very short video of his display here. (Also look carefully and you can just see the rear legs of the female that was ignoring him!)

I was invited to the bioblitz as a spider expert, but I try to be on the lookout for other interesting critters as well. There were lots of interesting things, but I will highlight just a couple.

We were privileged enough to have an Amphion floridensis (Nessus Sphinx moth) pay a visit to out bioblitz. This is a large (3.7-5.5 cm) day flying moth and can be identified by the prominent yellow stripe on the abdomen (Horn and Ohio Division of Wildlife 2014). I find them to be beautiful and captivating to watch. Their larvae feed on grape and Virginia creeper (Eaton and Kaufman 2006). The Ohio Division of Wildlife has put together a nice field guide to the moths of Ohio that you can access online.

Lastly, I wanted to share an unusual beetle that made an appearance. Arrhenodes minutus (The Oak Timberworm) These are “primitive” weevils of the subfamily Brentinae. There are only 4 species in this family found in the US, and 3 of those only occur in Florida. Arrhenodes minutus ranges from Florida to Canada, and the larvae are known to feed on oaks (Eaton and Kauffman 2006). The females lay their eggs on exposed wood of living trees and the young can take up to four years to mature (Buchanan 1960). They are sexually dimorphic; the females have a long “beak” that they use for excavating a hole for their eggs, whereas the males have a pair of “pincer like” jaws (Milne and Milne, 1980). Therefore we know that this was a male, he was willing to pose for several photos before taking flight.

It is always fun to participate in a Bioblitz. Not only is it fun to go out and chase down critters to add to the list, but it is a great opportunity to interact with the public and raise awareness of the animals and plants that seek refuge in areas like Glen Echo. There are amazing things in your neighborhood too, if you just go looking for them.

Bradley, Richard Alan., Buchanan, Steve., American Arachnological Society.,. 2013. Common Spiders of North America. University of California Press, Berkeley.

Buchanan, W. D.,. “Biology of the oak timberworm, Arrhenodes minutus.” Journal of Economic Entomology 53.4 (1960): 510-513.

Eaton, Eric R., Kaufman, Kenn.,. 2007. Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America. Houghton Mifflin Co., New York, N.Y.

Horn, David J., Ohio Division of Wildlife.,. 2014. Moths of Ohio: Field guide. Publication 5467 (0214) http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/portals/wildlife/pdfs/publications/id%20guides/pub5467.pdf

Milne, L. J., Milne, M. J. G.,. 1980. The Audubon Society field guide to North American insects and spiders. Knopf: distributed by Random House, New York

Shale Hollow Bioblitz

On the evening of May 15^th, 2015 I participated in a Bioblitz at the Shale Hollow Preserve. This is a park maintained by Preservation Parks of Delaware County, and is located just west of St. Rt. 23 in Delaware Ohio. The Shale Hollow stream sits in a corridor of 20 to 40 foot tall cliffs of shale, hence the name of Shale Hollow. Within the stream bed one can find concretions, which are carbonate spheres that range in diameter from a few inches to over 9 feet (Hansen 1994). They are really interesting geological features, and if you are curious you can read more about them in the Geofacts publications from ODNR. The stream, forests, and cliffs create a beautiful habitat, that I thoroughly enjoyed seeing. It is home to many species of birds, amphibians, mammals, and invertebrates.

I only had a couple of hours available in which to search for spiders, but I was not disappointed. Spiders can be notoriously difficult to identify, often one needs a mature specimen under a microscope in order to correctly determine the genus and species. Neriene radiata, the filmy dome spider, is one exception to that rule, and actually it is easiest to identify the species by the web it makes (Bradley and Buchanan 2013) . The common name of filmy dome accurately describes the dome style sheet web that the spider constructs, which is four to five inches in diameter usually within a couple feet of the ground (Weber 2013). The spider will live on the underside of the dome, sitting inverted waiting for prey to get knocked down by the tangle of threads above the dome, and then drop onto the dome’s surface where she can pull the prey through the web (Howell and Jenkins 2004). I usually have a spray bottle filled with water which is the perfect tool for highlighting the shape and density of the web.

The family Corinnidae is commonly referred to as the ant runner spiders. These spiders do not build a web for prey capture, but rather chase their prey down. I was lucky enough to catch a Castianeira longipalpa. They are extremely fast runners, and unlike most spiders, have a gait that appears more antlike than arachnid, and have been found living in association with carpenter ants (Howell and Jenkins 2004).

Another spider that resembles an ant more than it does an arachnid is Synemosyna formica, one of the ant-mimic jumping spiders. These spiders actually walk with their first pair of legs raised over their heads, to mimic the antenna of ants. They don’t jump, but can run faster than the formica ants they mimic, but are slower moving than most Salticidae (Gaddy and Kollath 2009).

In a more open grassy area I found a Larinia sp. orb weaver. The lines on the abdomen combined with the way the spider sits with the rear two pairs of legs straight back from the body, allow it to sit very well camouflaged in grasses (Howell and Jenkins 2004).

As I was preparing to leave a beetle that had been attracted to the lights on the building caught my eye. It was a Nicrophorus orbicollis (Roundneck Sexton Beetle). Nicrophorus beetles are a type of Carrion beetle, which excavate beneath the deceased body of small animals, causing the body to sink into the ground (Triplehorn and Johnson 2005). The beetle was not alone; it was carrying a load of Poecilochirus sp. mites. These mites are not hurting the beetle in anyway, but in fact are using the beetle as a form of transportation (Springett 1968), which is called phoresy. The beetles feed on decaying flesh, and the mites feed fly eggs and maggots that are feeding on decaying flesh. The mites have very limited means to travel between feeding areas, whereas the beetle can spread its wings and fly. So the mites climb aboard the beetle, and allow it to fly them to a new source of food.

IMG_8415c — Nicrophorus orbicollis (Roundneck Sexton Beetle) with Poecilochirus sp. mites

In just the couple hours of looking I was able to create a list of over 25 species of spiders for the Bioblitz. I wish that I could have spent longer there, and I hope to make some time in the future to return to this site. Thanks to the staff of the Delaware County Preservation Parks for asking me to join in this event.

Work Cited

Bradley, R. A., and S. Buchanan. (2013). Common Spiders of North America. Berkeley, University of California Press.

Gaddy, L. L., and Rick Kollath. 2009. Spiders of the Carolinas. Duluth, Minnesota : Kollath-Stensaas Publishing.

Hansen, M.C. (1994) Ohio Shale Concretions. Ohio Geological Survey, GeoFacts, No. 4

Howell, W. Mike, and Ronald L. Jenkins. Spiders of the Eastern United States: A Photographic Guide. Pearson Education, 2004.

Springett, B. P. 1968. “Aspects of the Relationship Between Burying Beetles, Necrophorus Spp. and the Mite, Poecilochirus necrophori Vitz”. Journal of Animal Ecology. 37 (2): 417-424.

Triplehorn, Charles A., and Norman F. Johnson. Borror and DeLong’s Introduction to the Study of Insects. Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole, 2005.

Weber, Larry. 2013. Spiders of the North Woods, 2^nd Edition. Kollath-Stensaas Publishing

Steatoda grossa (aka the false widow)

Some time ago I found a spider in my kitchen that I identified as Steatoda grossa. For most people that means very little, but for me it was rather exciting as they are not considered common in Ohio, where I live. Identifying spiders isn’t as easy as looking at the abdominal patterns, which is what most amateurs do when looking through a field guide. The patterns on spiders can be variable. You must look at the genitalia for most spiders in order to conclusively identify them. For female spiders you must look at the epigynum, which is located on the ventral side of the spider’s abdomen near the epigastric furrow. Viewing this on larger females can be accomplished by placing the spider in a Ziploc bag, placing her so that she is ventral side up, and holding the bag tight enough to reduce movement without squishing her. I was able to do this with my Steatoda and was able to confirm that she was in fact Steatoda grossa. If you want to see an example of the epigynum diagram you can see one on Bugguide.

IMG_2377c — *Steatoda grossa* epigynum (viewed through a microscope)

Steatoda grossa are members of the Theridiidae family, commonly referred to as cob web weavers, due to the tangle web they weave (Adams and Manolis 2014). Worldwide there are more than 2,200 species of Theridiidae (Bradley et al. 2013). This family includes the Latrodectus (the widows); Steatodas superficially resemble Latrodectus, leading to the common name of “false widow” (Adams and Manolis 2014). Steatodas are not usually black, but as they are dark in color in low lighting they can appear black (Howell), and unlike the true widows, Steatodas lack the hourglass marking on the ventral side of the abdomen. They tend to hang inverted in their cobweb (Adams and Manolis 2014) which gives a clear view of the ventral side to determine that no hourglass is present. The females can live up to six years (Bradley et al. 2013). They are not considered harmful to people (Bradley et al. 2013) but in many ways provide us benefits as these spiders eat a lot of the things that we considered pest species. They like to live in and around our home, and I like to think of them as my personal pest control army.

A short time after I found the female in my kitchen I found a male Steatoda in my bathroom. I was fairly confident that the male was also Steatoda grossa, but the trick with the Ziploc bag doesn’t work with males as it is the structures of the pedipalps that you need to see to determine species. I placed the male in a vial, and tried to photograph him at various angels to see if I could determine species. Although I didn’t get any images that confirmed 100% he was S. grossa, I felt that I could see enough of the structures to be confident enough to try introducing him to the female.

Mating — *Steatoda grossa* male and female. (Male web building (left), and mating (right)

On May 24^th, 2015 I decided to introduce the male to the female. This can be a stressful event as either one of the spiders can decide not to be friendly to the other, and you can end up with both spiders injured or dead from the ordeal. I was very nervous, but gently placed the male in the enclosure with the female. (It is better to introduce the male into the female’s enclosure so that he can get chemical signals from her web regarding her reproductive status.) There were a few tense moments when they approached each other, and then the male retreated to the bottom of the enclosure where he started spinning a small web. The best I can describe it was a platform that he suspended himself inverted beneath, about as big around as he was with his legs outstretched. He carefully attached lines to the webbing of the female. Once he was done he started tugging on the female’s web. I have heard that male spiders will use this to communicate with the female that he is of the same species and eager to mate. It didn’t take long for her to proceed to his location in the enclosure. There was some front leg tapping, and a couple of attempts to pull the female closer that ended with her retreating, but after a couple of tries he successfully wooed the female and mating ensued. I have posted a couple of videos documenting this, the courtship, failed attempt, and successful mating here, and a better view of the mating here.

IMG_0657n — The first *Steatoda grossa* egg sac.

Once the mating was complete I removed the male from the female’s enclosure. On June 6^th she created her first egg sac, and not long after that she created a second egg sac. I have been keeping her well fed, mainly on Isopodas, as they are easy to catch and she seems to enjoy them.

IMG_0902c — *Steatoda grossa* spiderlings with the second (yet to emerge) egg sac.

On July 7^th, 2015, I was thrilled to see that nearly fifty spiderlings have emerged from the first egg sac. They are still very small, and I personally think they are adorable. Now I just need to wait for the second egg sac to hatch, and then I can release them in and around my home, so that the next generation of pest control is in place. For those of you interested I have since preserved the male in ethanol, and was able to get some decent photo of his palps, to be 100% certain that he is Steatoda grossa. He will be donated to the Ohio State University’s Museum of Biodiversity. I am looking forward to finding many more in and around my house!

IMG_3217c — Male *Steatoda grossa* pedipalp

Work Cited

Adams, Richard J., Manolis, Tim D.,. 2014. Field Guide to the Spiders of California and the Pacific Coast States. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. .

Bradley, Richard Alan., Buchanan, Steve., American Arachnological Society.,. 2013. Common spiders of North America. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Howell, W. Mike., Jenkins, Ronald L.,. 2004. Spiders of the Eastern United States : A Photographic Guide. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

EcoWeekend

EcoWeekend was May 1^st-3^rd 2015 at Camp Oty’ Okwa in the Hocking Hills of Southeast Ohio. The Columbus Audubon Society runs this annual event giving families and individuals the chance to get out and experience and learn about nature. They recruit a variety of people to lead programs on a wide range of topics. I was invited this year to lead two programs on spiders, one for adults and one for youths (pre-K to second grade).

I arrived on Friday afternoon. After checking in at the registration desk and setting up my bedding and such, I headed out on a small hike with my packed dinner. The staff had recommended a trail that leads to “Split Rock” as a good option. The views were spectacular. The sedimentary rock exposed is from the Mississippian and Pennsylvanian periods (~345 MYA) when the region was covered by a shallow sea, and is called Black Hand Sandstone (Hansen 1975). During the glaciation events in Ohio this region was not ice covered, but was extensively sculpted by the flooding run off upon the glacial retreats .This run-off sculpted the rocks into all sorts of interesting formations. You can read about the geology of the region here.

While up on Split Rock I found an interesting little spider. It was hanging inverted on a small shrub. I was able to snap a couple of pictures of it before it dropped into the leaf litter below, and I was not able to relocate it. I am not sure what species of spider this is, so if anyone recognizes it please let me know!

Saturday morning was my adult spider program that I titled “Beginning Spidering”. I feel like looking for spiders should be as main stream as looking for birds, and so like Birding I felt Spidering would be a good name for that activity. After a brief overview of the common families of spiders found in Ohio I provided each of the participants with the free “Common Spiders of Ohio” field guide published by Ohio DNR. You can view the PDF here.

IMG_7731c — Cyclosa conica with its trashline

We then went spidering. It was not long before we found numerous spiders. There were Cyclosa conica in their orb webs. These spiders will arrange the remains of its prey in a line down the center of its web, thus earning the common name of trashline orb weavers (Bradley 2013). They will sit camouflaged among the trash, and even hide their egg sacs within it. We found numerous Agelenidae (funnel weavers) that we coaxed from their retreats with my sonic toothbrush. We found a roaming male Segestriidae, and lots of tube webs in rotting logs. There were lots of small Lycosidae (wolf spiders) running around in the leaf litter. And, almost every tree and shrub had a small immature Leucauge venusta (Orchard Orb-weavers) which are part of the Tetragnathidae family. I was so busy interacting with my group of participants that I failed to take many photographs on this expedition. They were a great group and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting them.

PipeCleanerSpiders — Pipe cleaner spiders in some creative colors!

In the afternoon was the youth program. As this was a pretty young group I decided to make it a little more interactive. We started by talking about what a spider is and why it is different than all the other arachnids. To aid in learning the basic body parts of a spider we made pipe cleaner spiders. (Thanks to the American Arachnological Society Casual Night at the 2014 conference for teaching me how to make these!) The kids all really enjoyed making their own spider (or two) to take home with them. (Hopefully they didn’t terrorize siblings or parents with them!) We then went on a spider hunt around the main activity building. We found lots of Theridiidae (cobweb weavers), lots of young Salticidaes (jumping spiders), and many immature L. venusta. The children really liked L. venusta as they have a bright orange spot on the ventral side of their abdomen. Some children had mistaken the orange spot for a red hourglass and had initially thought the camp was inundated with black widows. It is always nice to help educate people, as I am sure it was not just the children that had incorrectly identified these spiders.

On my way to lunch I noticed the classic jumping motions of a Salticidae on the edge of the dormitory. It was a very handsome male Platycryptus undatus. They have such cute fuzzy faces and big eyes. I really enjoyed photographing him. You can tell he is a male by the orange-red hairs (or mustache) on the clypeus and the white hairs around his eyes (Kaston 1981). This is my favorite species of spider. They can be quite common in Ohio, and seem to enjoy having their photograph taken.

Saturday evening I participated in the Night Insect Study lead by David Horn. Dr. Horn is Professor Emeritus at The Ohio State University, and is also the author of the Ohio DNR’s “Moths of Ohio Field Guide” that you can view here. Dr. Horn had previously set out traps, baited some trees, and deployed a light sheet with a UV light. We found lots of insects, and other arthropods during the event. The light sheet attracted a spectacular female Actias luna (Lunar Moth). You can there is also an Erebidae moth (maybe from the tribe Arctiini, which are commonly called Tiger moths) and an Ichneumonidae wasp (sub-family Ophioninae ) also on the sheet. Even though the focus was insects I, of course, was distracted by the spiders. I found a Xysticus crab spider (Family Thomisidae), and a very robust Tigrosa helluo (Family Lycosidae: wolf spider).

I intentionally left my Sunday morning free of programs. As this was my first time at Camp Oty’ Okwa I wanted a chance to do some exploring. Several people had recommended Counselor’s Cave as a good morning hike, and it did not disappoint. The views were spectacular. Poking around in the cave I found a mature male Callobius bennetti (Family Amaurobiidae: Hacked Mesh Weaver). It is not uncommon to find them in crevices in rocks (Howell and Jenkins 2004). Mature females can be found year-round, but mature males are usually only around in April-June (Kaston 1981). I am sure there were more in the caves there, and I hope he was successful in finding a mate.

Lastly, I wanted to mention that throughout the weekend I had my binoculars with me, and as it was spring migration there were plenty of birds around. I saw dozens, but have included just a few that I was able to photograph. (Black-Throated Green Warbler, Yellow-Rumped Warbler, Hooded Warbler, and Yellow-Throated Warbler.)

Whether you love birds, trees, flowers, hiking, astronomy, spiders, insects, photography or crafts, there is something for everyone at EcoWeekend. Thanks to the Columbus Audubon Society for inviting me to be a program leader, to all the staff that put in numerous hours setting everything up and taking care of us for the weekend, and all the participants that made this EcoWeekend such a success.

Literature Cited

Bradley, Richard Alan., Buchanan, Steve., American Arachnological Society.,. 2013. Common Spiders of North America. University of California Press, Berkeley.

Hansen, Michael C. 1975 Geology of the Hocking Hills State Park Region. State of Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological Survey.

Howell, W. Mike., Jenkins, Ronald L.,. 2004. Spiders of the Eastern United States : A Photographic Guide. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Kaston, B. J.,. 1981. Spiders of Connecticut. Hartford, CT: Dept. of Environmental Protection, State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut.

Caesar Creek Bioblitz

SpiderPresentation — Photos courtesy of Friends of Caesar Creek (You can follow them on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FOCaesarCreek)

On April 18^th I had the privilege of being invited to participate in the Caesar Creek State Park Bioblitz as their spider expert. We had excellent weather and a great turn out, leading to a great day with some fantastic finds.

Caesar Creek State Park is located in Waynesville, Ohio. In total, the park is seventy-nine hundred acres, although for the Bioblitz we only searched a small area. They offer a variety of activities, and many different habitat types. If you are in the area you should really check it out!

I was really impressed that we had over 55 people show up for the spider walk, and they were all enthusiastic and eager to learn. In the short time we were looking we found over 20 species of spiders. Not bad for early spring, especially when you take into consideration the crazy Ohio weather we had leading up to the event.

There were Cyclosa sp. building webs in the shrubby edge areas. These spiders are commonly called trash line spiders. As they capture prey they decorate their web with the remains, usually in a vertical line bisecting the web down the middle. The spider then sits among the “trash”, which helps to camouflage it. The one I photographed did not have a trash line yet, but it is early in the season.

There were many Larinoides cornutus, commonly called Furrow Orb weavers, throughout the park. They build a large orb style web and tend to be most active at night. We found both mature males and females. I am sure the park appreciates the pest control these large spiders provide.

In turning over some leaf litter a Xysticus funestus, Ground Crab Spider, was found. This was a mature female, and I was able to get a photograph of her epigynum to confirm the species. Many people think that you can identify a spider by its coloration and markings. This is not usually the case. Spiders can be highly variable in appearance, so one must use key characteristics to determine species, and with an immature spider this can be almost impossible, as the characteristics of the palps (for males) and epigynum (for females) are usually needed.

IMG_7409c — Spring Peeper (*Pseudacris crucifer*)

Although I was looking for spiders I try to keep out an eye out for other organisms too. In searching a grassy area near the pond we came across a very handsome Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer). These small chorus frogs like to inhabit grassy areas, and hunt predominately at night. They are named for their peeping like song, and are often the first frogs heard calling in the spring.

IMG_7394c — *Plethodon cinereus* (Red-backed salamander)

One way that I look for spiders is by rolling logs. Remember always roll the log towards you, so anything trying to escape will run away from you. Also, once you have finished looking under logs and rocks put them back the way you found them! Under one log we found a small Red-backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus). These terrestrial salamanders are commonly found in forested areas. When it comes time to put the log back I like to roll the log back into place and then put the salamander nearby, preventing the chance of accidentally crushing it.

*Arisaema triphyllum* (Jack in the Pulpit)

There were lots of wildflowers out during our walk. I have always been fascinated with Jack in the Pulpits (Arisaema triphyllum). It gets its name from the spathe (“pulpit”) that protects the spandix (“Jack”). They can be purchased at many nurseries and grown in shady patches in gardens.

Hentzia_mitrata — Hentzia mitrata male: penultimate (left) and mature (right).

Lastly, I wanted to mention that I found a Hentzia sp. male jumping spider. As I made reference to before, many times an immature spider cannot be identified to species. In this case (with permission from Caesar Creek State Park) I collected the individual and brought him home with me. I kept him contained and well fed until he completed his final molt. Now that he is a mature male I can identify him as Hentzia mitrata. I think the transformation that occurred with just one molt is quite dramatic. I think these are very handsome spiders!

I really enjoyed the opportunity to get out to Caesar Creek State park, and the audience was wonderful. It was a great day. This is an annual event, so if you are interested you can participate next year. Many other parks and areas hold Bioblitzes throughout the year, so if it is something you are interested in participating in check with your local parks. It is a great place to meet people and learn about the wonderful creatures that live in your area!

Chelicerae

(Photos 1 and 2) Anterior (left) and posterior (right) view of a pair of chelicera

The other day while sorting pitfall samples I came across a pair of chelicera. As they were separated from their former owner it gave me a chance to photograph and view some of the specific anatomy. (I should note that I checked all the spiders in my samples, and they all had their chelicerae, so I am not sure where these ones came from.)

Chelicerae are the first appendage on the prosoma of a spider, although in embryonic spiders they are behind the mouth (Foelix 2011). The chelicerae are composed of two primary parts: 1. The Paturon or Basal area 2. The articulated fang. Spiders are subdivided into two major infraorders: Mygalamorphae and Araneomorphae. One can tell the difference in the infraorders by the orientation of the fangs; in Mygalamorphae they are articulated such that they run parallel to each other and the body of the spider, in Araneomorphae they are angled or perpendicular to the body (Beccaloni 2009).

(Photo 4) Checliceral furrow, and marginal teeth

This pair of chelicera is clearly from an Araneomorphae. My first pair of photographs (Photos 1 and 2) shows the anterior and posterior view, and you can see that the fangs would be perpendicular to the main body. If you look closely at the area where the fangs fold up against the basal area you can see the cheliceral furrow (Photo 3). In some spiders the edges of the cheliceral furrow are lined with teeth. This pair has both retromargin (towards the rear of the spider) and promargin (towards the front of the spider) teeth (Photo 4). Looking at the chelicera from the ventral side you can see how the fangs fit nicely into the furrow (Photo 3). Spiders that have cheliceral teeth use them to hold and crush their prey (Foelix 2011). In many cases the number and placement of cheliceral teeth are used to aide in identifying spiders to species.

The next photo clearly shows the opening of the venom gland (Photo 5). This is how the spider delivers its venom to its prey. You can see that the opening is not at the very tip of the fang. This location provides a mechanically stable fang and helps prevent the opening from getting clogged (Foelix 2011). You can also see the hinge joint that allows for the movement of the fang. The chelicerae themselves can also be moved, allowing the spider mobility and flexibility in prey capture.

The last feature I wanted to point out on this pair of chelicera is the boss or condyle at the laterobasal angle (Photo 6). A condyle in general is a prominence of bone resembling knuckles, so you can see why it gets it names here, as they are very knuckle like protuberances.

(Photo 7) Stridulatory file and mastidion

Chelicerae are a good multiuse tool for spiders. They can be used for protection, digging burrows, carrying egg sacs, and creating sound. As you can see in this photograph of a different spider’s chelicera there is a stridulatory file on the lateral edge of the chelicera (Photo 7). You can imagine the spider strumming this with their pedipalps like a human strumming a washboard or frottoir. One other interesting feature is shown on this spider’s chelicera; there is a tooth like structure, that rather than lining the edge of the cheliceral furrow protrudes from the anterior surface of the basal area. This feature is called a mastidion (mastidia pl.)(Photo 7).

Finding this free pair of chelicera was a great opportunity for me to become more familiar with some of the specific anatomy that is used in identification of spiders. Now in case you were wondering I will make a guess on the owner of my free floating chelicera. Based on the overall appearance, the presence of the boss/condyle, and the number and placement of the cheliceral teeth I would guess that these belong to a Lycosidae, but without the rest of the spider I am not sure I can get any more specific than that.

LITERATURE CITED

Beccaloni, J. 2009. Arachnids. University of California Press, Berkeley.

Foelix, R. F. 2011. Biology of spiders. Oxford University Press, Oxford; Toronto.

Wildland Fire Management

DSCF0244 — Prescribed Burn of the Big Blue Stem Prairie

Fall semester was a busy time for me. This was my first semester of being a graduate teaching associate. I had the privilege of working with Dr. Roger Williams and Mike Bowden, who were teaching the Wildland Fire Management class. This class was actually two different classes, one was the lecture and one was the lab. (Not all of the students were in both sections.) I had a good experience assisting with these classes, and we had a good group of students. This class provides the students with the opportunity to become red card certified, and as part of their practical experience we executed a prescribed burn at a local prairie at the Gwynne Conservation Area.

We had good weather for the day of the prescribed burn. The relative humidity was a little higher than we would have liked, but was still within the range that allowed us to burn.The day started out with the students constructing a fire line. Using a variety of tools (Council Fire Rake, Combi Tool, Pulaski, and McLeod) the students removed flammable material in a line on the edge of the prairie adjacent to another prairie area that had been previously mowed. The students were very efficient at this task, and completed it very quickly. While the fire line was being constructed I noticed a frog jumping into the area that would be burned. I was able to catch it and release it in an area where it would be safe.

The students then had an opportunity to practice deploying fire shelters. As you can see in the picture these are practice shelters (they are green, and the real shelters are silver). Once a fire shelter is deployed it is taken out of service, so these practice ones are used to allow the students the experience of deploying a shelter with one that can be re-used.

Then came the hose lay. We had a pump set up at the pond near the prairie, and we laid line along the edge of the prairie where the fire line had been established.

Ignitiion of the fire, Fusee (left), Drip Torch (middle and right)

Once the area had been prepared we were ready to start burning. As is the case with many prairie burns, we utilized a ring fire. One starts with a backing fire, then proceeds to set flanking fires, and ends with a head fire that burns through the prairie. The students used Fusees and drip torches to ignite the prairie. Once the entire area was burned the students put out any hot spots, completed the mop up and the burn was finished. It was a very successful day and the students were hard working and very professional.

As I am interested in spider community succession post natural disturbance, and most prescribed fires are done to emulate natural fires, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to gain some more insights into how spiders respond to fire. I contacted the people in charge of the Gwynne Conservation Area and obtained permission to set out some pitfall traps prior to and for several weeks after the fire. They also have a second prairie on site that was not part of the burn, so I was able to set up traps in that area as well to serve as my control. It was a small area we were burning, so my sample size wasn’t huge, but it was an opportunity I felt I couldn’t miss.

I started pitfall trapping on September 26^th. My son was nice enough to come out and help me dig the holes and set my traps. I collected my samples each two weeks, and on October 24^th I pulled the traps. We burned the prairie on October 25^th, and on the 26^th I put the traps back in place. I continued to collect samples until December 7^th, when I pulled the traps. I collected a total of 297 spiders from 16 fmailies. I am currently working on identifying them to species, but I already have some interesting results.

BurnSpider — Lycosidae with burn injuries

Although I haven’t run any statistics on the data yet, and bear in mind this was a small project, it was interesting to see that the number of spiders increased after the burn in the Big Blue Stem Prairie (the prairie that we burned). The Prairie Planting was my control, and in the weeks prior to the burn had an average of 17.75 spiders per week. The week after the burn that dropped to 9 for the week. (This actually wasn’t too surprising as we had a freeze in the week after the burn.) In contrast, the Big Blue Stem had an average of 23.75 spiders per week prior to the burn, and 32 spiders for the week after the burn. As people will tell you, pitfall trapping may be more of a reflection on activity than true density, so it may not be that there were more spiders, but that the spiders that were there are more active. Regardless, these data seem to support the conclusion that some spiders are surviving the fire. I am really curious to see what the results show once I have the spiders identified to species and have had a chance to complete some statistics on them.

IMG_6481c — Lycosidae in burn area immediately after burn

To add to the conclusion that at least some of the spiders are surviving the burn, on the day of the burn, when we entered the burn area to complete the mop-up there were numerous spiders observed in the burn area. This included some large Lycosidae (wolf spiders) that must have survived the fire in situ. My hypothesis that some spiders are surviving the burn in place was also confirmed by the capture of a mature male Lycosidae a month after the burn with obvious burn injuries. He has legs that are missing joints due to burns, as well as singed pedipalps and spinnerets.

IMG_6350c — Standing Back Row(left to right): Mike Bowden (Instructor), Eli Collinson, Michael Bean, Jay Koppes, Thomas Christopher, Jacob Nau, Richard Morse, John Evers, Jeff Johnson, Kyle Chuba, Robert Denney, Tyler Anderson, Jonathon Miller, Sam Kaiser, Austin Roby, Ryan Clester, Dr. Roger Williams (Instructor).
Kneeling Front Row (left to right): Ethan Rhodus, Crystina Bakus, Lauren Patterson, Gregory Strine, Sarah Rose (TA)

I was glad of the opportunity to work with the Wildland Fire class on the prescribed burn, as well as the opportunity to complete some spider sampling. Thank you to the Gwynne Conservation Area for allowing me to set traps and allowing us to complete the prescribed burn.

Natural Areas Conference

fieldtrip — Prairies (Milford Center, Pearl King, and Battelle Darby Creek)

October 15-18^th, 2014 was the 41^st annual Natural Areas Conference. This year it was held in Dayton, Ohio. The first day started with the Plenary session with Guy Denney talking about “Reading the Ohio Landscape”, Emma Marris (author of The Rambunctious Garden: Saving Nature in a Post-Wild Word) speaking on “Diversity, Wilderness, Inspirations: The Value of Smaller, Fragmented Natural Areas”, then Hugh Safford spoke on the “Deeply Rooted Reality: Brining Federal Lands Conservation and Restoration into the 21^st Century”, and finally by a panel discussion with the speakers plus Reed Noss and Keith Bowers. The talks were very enlightening, and I wish they had a video of them online for you to view. You can read a bit about the speakers here.

Students were provided the opportunity to participate in a speed networking lunch with an assortment of natural areas professionals. This is a similar concept to speed dating, with students changing seats every three minutes, but rather than looking for dates it was an opportunity to speak with professional. I really enjoyed speaking with the director of the Dayton Airport, Terrence Slaybaugh, about the changes they are making. They are replacing the mowed grass areas adjacent to their runways and taxiways with prairie lands. This is in an effort to offset their carbon footprint, but also to deter Canada Geese from using the areas as they are a collision concern for the aircraft.

The afternoon was filled with concurrent sessions, including my talk “Changes in the spider and ground beetle communities after an EF-2 tornado impacted a north-central Ohio forest”. I love having the opportunity to talk about my research and gain feedback from others in my field. My talk went really well.

The rest of the conference involved a poster session, the business meeting, more concurrent talks, and the awards dinner (with an auction).

The last day was reserved for field trips to local restoration projects. I choose to do the Prairie Restoration Field trips and was not disappointed.

We started the morning at the Milford Center Prairie. This is a small strip prairie where rail lines used to run. The agricultural field adjacent to the prairie was filled with Horned Larks, but I am sorry to say I wasn’t able to get any decent photos of them.

We then took a short drive to the Pearl King Prairie. This is actually a metro parks property, and is an Oak Savannah. The oaks here are estimated to be 350 years old. I (of course) was on the lookout for spiders, and was not disappointed. I found an Araneidae on the dried flower head of dock plant. I was taking photographs when John Watts (from Metro Parks who was the co-leader of the field trip) commented that I had found one of the plants he wanted to point out to us. The plant is a cut-leaf dock. Rather than the standard oval leaves of a dock plant this one is unusually shaped. People can easily mistake it for a compass plant, but John explained that it is not, just a really unique prairie dock. We also found a pair of mating stick bugs, and a very handsome jumping spider.

Then it was on to Bigelow Cemetery. This old cemetery represents one of only a few original undisturbed prairies in the area. We were told that some of the Royal catchfly is a unique salmon pink coloration, but we were past the blooming seasons, so we didn’t get to see that. There were abundant Argiope spiders and even a quite large egg sac.

Next was Smith cemetery. This cemetery has a population of Burr oaks, with native prairie grasses and wildflowers. Here one of the gravestones has an American flag as it is the grave of Samuel Smith, who served as a lieutenant in the Revolutionary War. In a down piece of wood I found a Segestridae web. I also noticed an Argiope trifasciata hanging in a peculiar pose in its web. You can see in the photo that the spider is head down, with its abdomen perpendicular to the web. The underside, which is predominately dark in color, is in full sun. This posture is thought to be a method of thermoregulation (Higgins and Ezcurra, 1996). It had been a cool morning, and likely this spider was “sunning” herself to warm up.

We ended the day at Battelle Darby Creek. We stopped in the nature center and then proceeded to hike the newly restored wet prairie habitat. One of the really interesting features in the nature center is that they have a portion of the creek flowing through the middle of the building. It housed fish, frogs, turtles, and many aquatic invertebrates. For more information about Battelle Darby Creek and its new nature center check out their website. The wet prairie is home to lots of wildlife, and it beautiful to walk through. In the trail was a clump of puffballs (Lycoperdon sp.), these fungi are presumably edible (McKnight and McKnight, 1987), but I left them where I found them.

Stream in the Nature Center at Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park

It was a great conference; I met lots of interesting people, shared my research, and enjoyed a delightful field trip. Next year the conference will be in Little Rock, Arkansas. We will have to see if I can make it there!

LITERATURE CITED

Higgins, L. E.,Ezcurra, E.,. 1996. Mathematical Simulation of Thermoregulatory Behavior in an Orb-Weaving Spider. Functional Ecology 10:322-327.

McKnight, Kent H., McKnight,Vera B.,. 1987. A Field Guide to Mushrooms : North America. The Peterson Field Guide Series, Mifflin, Boston.

“Spider Spectacular!!!”

IMG_5819n — The West Woods (Geauga Park)

IMG_5824n — Wetland habitat at The West Woods (Geauga Park)

September 28^th was a great day for me. I was invited by Nora Sindelar (Park Naturalist) to be the guest speaker at the Geauga Park Program called “Spider Spectacular”. The program was held at the park’s West Woods location in Novelty, Ohio, about 30 miles east of Cleveland. The West Woods is a diverse site, with mature woodland, wetlands, and streams. The views were spectacular, and unfortunately my photographs do not do them justice. If you have the chance you should check out his park.

The day’s events included arts and crafts, fun and games with Spiderman, my guest talk, and a hike around the park looking for spiders. We had participants from the very young to the very old, all eager to learn more about spiders!

We found a good variety of spiders on our hike. Orb-weavers are abundant at this time of year (Weber 2002), and webs can be seen stretched between any upright structures the spider can find. I found a cute little Araneus sp. juvenile hiding out in the curled up leave on the edge of its web, just waiting for something to get caught. Araneidae spiders have poor vision, but can sense the vibrations that prey make when they get trapped in the web, so it is not uncommon for them to be found in a safe retreat away from the web (Bradley et al, 2013).

One of the participants found a Tetragantha sp. (long-jawed spider) relaxing on a leaf. They tend to be nocturnal spiders. They build a new web each evening, usually a horizontal orb web, and take it down each morning. Some Tetragnathidae build large webs over water, hoping to catch aquatic emergent insects (those that have a larval form in the water and emerge from the water as adults, a good example is mosquitoes!) (Bradley and Ohio Biological Survey, 2004).

Sometimes, when you see an ant running about it is not really an ant! I had the pleasure of finding an ant-mimic Salticidae (jumping spider). It uses its first pair of legs to mimic ant antenna. When it was knocked from its leaf it demonstrated that it was in fact a spider, and not an ant, by saving itself from falling with its dragline of silk. Ant mimicry in spiders is not uncommon, and Salticidaes are not the only family to mimic ants! In general it is thought that spiders mimic ants as a defensive mechanism (Bradley et al, 2013), as many predators avoid ants.

The ant mimic was not the only jumping spider seen. We saw lots of different ones, including a very handsome Pelegrina sp. male. One of the things I really enjoy about Salticidaes is that they seem so curious about me. They turn and look at the camera, and sometimes even jump on the lens. They are such cute little characters, and are usually one of the most popular with the general public.

Mecaphesa sp. (Crab spider) and other crab spiders were quite abundant on the various wildflowers growing in the park. The young male I photographed was less than cooperative, but I was able to get a reasonable photograph of him. They sit and wait with the first two pairs of legs outstretched. When prey gets close enough the grasp them in a hug while delivering their venomous bite. The first pair of legs are laterigrade and much more muscular than the others, giving them the strength to overpower insects much larger than themselves (Levi et al, 2002). Some Thomisidae can even change color to match the wildflowers that they are using as their hunting ground (Weber, 2002).

Agelenidae (grass spiders or funnel weavers) are abundant in the fall. Their webs are a sheet web that leads to a funnel retreat where the spider spends most of its time (Bradley et al, 2013). The sheet web is not sticky, but rather a good place for insect feet to get tangled. Many of those insects would not remain tangled for long, so the spider is usually quick at responding to potential prey. This is where my Sonic Toothbrush comes in handy. The vibration of the bristles mimics a potential prey, so just turn on the toothbrush and touch the bristles to the edge of the web and if you are lucky a spider will race out to investigate. (I should mention that the children were amused to think that spiders cared about good oral hygiene!) I have found this technique to be quite effective, and it gives people a chance to see the more secretive spiders. The toothbrush I use is the Colgate 360 Surround Sonic Tooth brush. It is great as it is quite inexpensive (less than $5) and you can replace the battery when it starts to slow down. It is one of the vital tools that I carry with me whenever I am spidering!

IMG_5820cn — Halysidota tessellaris (Banded Tussock Moth Caterpillar)

Of course I saw more than just spiders there. I found a beautiful Halysidota tessellaris (Banded Tussock Moth Caterpillar) enjoying the forest habitat.

Adjacent to the nature center the park has also installed a variety of bird feeders. They have large window overlooking the area where birders (and non-birders) can sit and watch the constant activity of the birds foraging. The Eastern Tufted Titmouse is always fun to watch and listen to. The Male Cardinal is stunning with his bright red color, and in the shrubs at the edge his young were a constant source of begging chips, encouraging him to be prompt in his activities.

I really enjoy doing programs like these. I get to meet other people that love and respect spiders, I can help some people overcome their fear and hate of spiders, and it is a chance to talk about my research and share my passion for the wonder little critters they are.

LITERATURE CITED

Bradley, Richard Alan., Buchanan, Steve., American Arachnological Society.,. 2013. Common Spiders of North America. University of California Press, Berkeley.

Bradley, R. A., and Ohio Biological Survey. 2004. In Ohio’s Backyard : Spiders. Ohio Biological Survey, Columbus, Ohio.

Levi, H. W., L. R. Levi, H. S. Zim, N. Strekalovsky, J. P. Latimer, and K. S. Nolting. 2002. Spiders and Their Kin. St. Martin’s Press, New York.

Weber, L. 2002. Spiders of the North Woods. Kollath-Stensaas Pub, . Kollath-Stensaas Pub., Duluth MN