Description of the egg sac of Paratrachelas maculatus, with notes on its establishment in urban regions of Germany and Austria (Araneae: Trachelidae)

Abstract

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Egg sac construction and camouflage behaviors of Deinopis cf. cylindracea (Araneae: Deinopidae)

“…Similar results were recorded in Paratrachelas maculatus (Thorell, 1875) (Trachelidae). In this spider, at the end of egg sac construction, the female added black sand and soil particles on the external side to decrease its detection by visually oriented predators (Bauer et al 2019). Another behavior that exemplifies the use of substrate, such as leaves, as a strategy of egg sac concealment was observed in Pozonia nigroventris (Bryant, 1936) (Moya et al 2010).…”

“…Occasionally it is concealed in debris, a behavior that has presumably evolved to reduce the visibility of egg sacs to natural enemies (Barrantes 2007;Barrantes et al 2013) The egg sac coloration varies widely among spider species; however, there is no information on the pigments responsible for different colors or their roles in camouflage (Barrantes et al 2013). The effectiveness of camouflage depends on the color, shape, decoration, oviposition substrates, and specifically the contrast of the outer layer of egg sac against the visual background (Craig 2003;Bauer et al 2019). In the Uloboridae, a sister family of Deinopidae, females of different species use different mechanisms to protect their egg sacs.…”