Miagrammopes species

Fact Box Species: Miagrammopes species (RM) (possibly M. caudatus) Family: Uloboridae Body length: female: about 20 mm male: about 12 mm Habitat: This species does not build a web but is suspended on a single strand of silk or lies along twigs or stands of grass that match it in colour, making it almost impossible to see unless it moves Toxicity: Unknown but this species does not appear to exhibit significant aggressive behaviour towards humans

Side view With egg sac Another view Eyes and palps

The first pair of legs are very much larger and longer than the others and when the spider is at rest all pairs of legs are pressed together or against the sides of the spider.

Other diagnostically important features of this Miagrammopes species are the presence of only a single row of 4 eyes running across the front of the spider and the production of an egg sac that is a very long, pale brown cylinder.

This spider has an unusual way of catching insects. It produces a single tight strand of silk that it releases whenever an insect touches the strand, the insect then becoming entangled as the strand springs back into a loose ball.

Spider(s) with a very similar appearance: Miagrammopes species.