American Nursery Web Spider
Pisaurina mira
Arachnida
COMMON
Stats
- Lifespan
- 1-2 yrs
- Size
- Medium
- Diet
- Insectivore
- Activity
- Nocturnal
- Social
- Solitary
- Biome
- Temperate forest
- Range
- North America
- Movement
- Walking
- Breeding
- Egg-laying
- Defense
- Camouflage
- Status
- Common
About
The American nursery web spider is a slender, long-legged hunter common in tall grass and shrubs across the eastern United States, catching prey by chasing it down rather than spinning a web. Females spin a silk "nursery" tent to guard their egg sac and newly hatched spiderlings until they can fend for themselves.
Life cycle
- 1.egg sacA silk-wrapped egg sac shelters a clutch of eggs until the young are ready to emerge.
- 2.juvenileA spiderling emerges from the egg sac already in miniature adult form and starts catching prey almost immediately.
- 3.subadultA near-adult arachnid molts through several instars, growing larger and developing mature markings.
- 4.adultFully grown after its final molt.
Learn more
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Class
- Arachnida
- Order
- Araneae
- Family
- Pisauridae
- Genus
- Pisaurina
- Species
- Pisaurina mira