Photos Of Female Ozyptila praticola With Egg Sac

Female Ozyptila praticola in repose,
with egg sac.

I've finally seen an Ozyptila praticola female with her egg sac! I've been so focused on determining the local range of this introduced European species in Washington state (USA), that I haven't spent much time delving into its life history. So for me, this was a first.

I found her in a cardboard live trap that I had placed in Kirkland, Washington back on 29 March 2018. The trap was a roll of 12" by 3" single-face flute-A corrugated cardboard placed under a layer of pine needles in a dry, shrubby area at Jasper's Dog Park. I returned this week to check the trap and found it inhabited only by the O. praticola, her egg sac, and a few earwigs.

Female Ozyptila praticola protecting
her egg sac

The egg sac was lenticular in shape and apparently "tacked" to the cardboard substrate at intervals with silk. The female was in repose on one side of the egg sac when I opened the trap. However, after I began to move the trap this way and that to get enough light for photos, she became active enough to take a more protective position over the egg sac.

If you're interested in this species, you should also check out Tone Killick's excellent photos of a female O. praticola and her egg sac, taken near Gloucester, England.