Collecting Pursewebs and Trapdoors in SC?

[USMuscle9403]

I collected a purseweb spider when I was about ten in NC once, but that is the only experience that I have with these. Does anyone else have any other information or experience? If so, what sort of habitat were they in and how did you find them? What species? How common are they? Been looking into going on a trek for them :)

[WithCerberus]

Well it seems that we have a common interest. I love pursewebs and trapdoors above all other spiders. When I graduate in December I am taking a trip to Florida to collect and photograph a few different species. SC would be a very good place to look for these spiders. You have Sphodros niger, S. rufipes, and S. atlanticus there. Of all of these S. rufipes would be easiest to find due to their rather conspicuous purses that are attached to the trunks of trees. S. niger is another story. Their webs lay horizontally on the ground and are usually covered with leaf litter. S. atlanticus probably has webs similar to S. rufipes but it hasn't been collected enough to say that is how they always are.
As for trapdoor spiders you have a good selection of species to hunt for. The most common and easiest to find in SC would be Antrodiaetus unicolor. This is a folding door trapdoor spider that is usually found at the base of rock outcrops in sheltered places. Look for exposed soil with little leaf litter. You can usually find these by the dozens if you know where to look. Myrmekiaphila fluviatilis is suposedly pretty common too. I'd look for these near streams on fairly steep slopes. Cyclocosmia truncata and several species of Ummidia are there as well but are much harder to find. I'd look in similar habitat as you would for M. fluviatilis.
For my trip in December I'm going to the pan handle of Florida. I'm going after S.rufipes, S.abboti, Myrmekiaphila torreya, and Cyclocosmia torreya (the holy grail of my trip). I'm mainly going just to photograph them. I did however contact the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to get a collecting permit so I could take two specimens of each species. If you do collect any pursewebs or trapdoors it is very important to get the right permits and also to not over collect. It can be very frustrating serching for these spiders. It really helps to get in touch with someone who knows how and where to find them. I had the good luck to become friends with Dr. Joe Beatty who showed me how to find them and extract them without harm. He also let me use his extensive personal library to do research. You should check out Universities in the area. Dr. Coyle is at Western Carolina and is a world expert on trapdoors and pursewebs. at the end of my post are some pictures I have taken of pursewebs and trapdoors from Illinois. enjoy 8)
God, I love these spiders. {D {D {D
well anyways, with all of that said, I'll list some journal articles to point you in the right direction.

Gertsch and Wallace
1936 Notes on New and Rare American Mygalomorph Spiders
American Museum Novitates number 884 pp.1-25

Gertsch and Platnick
1975 A Revision of the Trapdoor Genus Cyclocosmia
American Museum Novitates number 2580 pp.1-20

Gertsch and Platnick
1980 A Revision of the American Spiders of the Family Atypidae
American Museum Novitates number 2704 pp. 1-39

L. Hardy
2003 Trees Used For Tube Support By Sphodros rufipes in Northwestern Louisiana. Journal of Arachnology 31: 437-440

Edwards, R
1990 Observations on the Natural History of a New England Population of Sphodros niger. Journal of Arachnology 18: 29-34

Beatty, J
1986 Web Structure and Burrow Location of Sphodros niger
Journal of Arachnology 14: 130-132


Bobby

[WithCerberus]

http://www.textamerica.com/user.images.x/69/IMG_393969/_0518/T40405182246010.jpg
A pic of a wandering Sphodros niger male. He was photographed at Garden of the Gods in Illinois.

http://www.textamerica.com/user.images.x/69/IMG_393969/_0518/T40405182250450.jpg
another shot of the S.niger.

http://www.textamerica.com/user.images.x/69/IMG_393969/T40405040851170.jpg
This is the largest Antrodiaetus unicolor I have found.

http://www.textamerica.com/user.images.x/69/IMG_393969/T40405040847590.jpg
This is an A.unicolor spiderling in its hunting position.

http://www.textamerica.com/user.images.x/69/IMG_393969/T40404271754380.jpg
a close up shot of an A.unicolor

http://www.textamerica.com/user.images.x/69/IMG_393969/_0526/T40405260958141.jpg
a shot of a closed A.unicolor burrow.

http://www.textamerica.com/user.images.x/69/IMG_393969/Thumb/_0526/T40405260959441.jpg
Here is a shot of the burrow opened up. For som reason the full sized version of this pic won't cooperate.

ok ok ok, i know I'm getting carried away here but here is one last pic of a cute lil spiderling.
http://www.textamerica.com/user.images.x/69/IMG_393969/T40404231139200.jpg


whew... ok I'm done with the pics for a while. well at least until I get back from my trip {D

Cheers,

Bobby

[USMuscle9403]

Thanks for the post :) But the post is in reference to collecting in South Carolina, not NC, I just collected my first ever purseweb in NC that's all :)

I assume we probably have some of the same species and they'd be found in the same habitat though right? I found the one I did totally by accident. I had kept tarantulas and scorpions before when I was 10 but I really had no idea what kind of spider I found. It was just under a rock, no web or anything. I knew at the time it was a Myglamorph because of the chelicera and that is was most likely a trapdoor, but after seeing it spin a tubelike retreat covered with debris I had no idea what the hell I was dealing with, LOL. It lived only a short time though, poor thing.

Anyways, thanks alot for the info. What goes into getting a collecting permit? I'm particularly interested in areas around mid-South Carolina, closest to home as possible :D

[WithCerberus]

lol, i reread your post and edited it to SC. As far as getting a collecting permit, contact the state parks that you might want to collect in. They will point you in the direction of the right people. Getting a permit to collect purse webs can be difficult as some states list them as endangered or as species of special concern but it is worth trying. Good luck with your searching.

Bobby

[USMuscle9403]

Oh OK, so you were talking about SC all along :)

Do you think I'd be wasting my time searching at this time of year? Hell it feels like spring here anyway...LOL.

[WithCerberus]

No you wouldn't be wasting your time at all, I'm taking my trip to northern Florida in December. In fact for A. unicolor you can find a lot of wandering males this time of year. As for the pursewebs, their purses can be seen at any time of the year. I've observed these guys in the hunting position when the temp was around 39 degrees so the cold doesn't affect them much. The most important step in finding the spiders though is just hiking around and looking for favorable habitat. Look for nice moist valleys or rock outcrops with sheltered areas. So really no time is wasted out in the woods 8). Try to look for patches of woods that dont look too disturbed. Anything that has been extensively logged or used for agriculture probably won't have them just because these spiders dont disperse too far.

Bobby