We counted and measured Sphodros rufipes (Latreille 1829) pursewebs in two survey plots on Tuckernuck Island, Massachusetts. Our objectives were to quantify web density, record physical web characteristics and determine the main components of S. rufipes' diet. We counted 479 webs in the two plots and report web densities between 0.058 and 0.18 webs/m2, denser than previously reported populations. Webs were not distributed evenly, and densities ranged from 0 to 0.38 webs/m2. Aggregation indices suggest that webs are aggregated on a landscape level, but are more evenly distributed at a local level. Contrary to most previously published literature on S. rufipes, we noted the predominance of the grass-like sedge, Carex pensylvanica, rather than trees, as a web support. Coleopterans and isopods made up 79 percent of the prey parts collected from 56 pursewebs.
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1 April 2011
An unusually dense population of Sphodros rufipes (Mygalomorphae: Atypidae) at the edge of its range on Tuckernuck Island, Massachusetts
Andrew Mckenna-Foster,
Michael L. Draney,
Cheryl Beaton
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The Journal of Arachnology
Vol. 39 • No. 1
April 2011
Vol. 39 • No. 1
April 2011
diet
Purseweb spiders
spatial distribution
web density