Nursery Web or Fishing Spider

Description:

Pisaurids are medium to very large arboreal-, terrestrial- or water-associated spiders, ranging from 8 to 30 mm. The carapace is longer than wide with the elongated abdomen tapering posteriorly. The legs are relatively long and slender with numerous spines and depending on the genus, are held forward and backward or latrigrade. The integument is normally coloured in various shades of brown with lateral creamish bands on the carapace that may extend along the abdomen. On some, the abdomen may be marked with spots or have a folium (leaf-like marking). Others may have a lightish (brown, grey or cream) median band running dorsally along both its carapace and abdomen. They resemble wolf spiders (family Lycosidae), but they carry their egg sacs by means of their jaws and pedipalps (instead of attaching them to their spinnerets). When the eggs are about to hatch, a mother spider will build a nursery "tent", put her egg sac inside and mount guard outside. The name nursery web spider is especially given to the European species Pisaura mirabilis, but the family also includes fishing spiders and raft spiders.

Habitat:

In South Africa the Pisauridae include 14 genera, most of which are diurnal. Some are web-bound and some not although they are all three clawed spiders. The webs of the web bound species have no capture ability and the spiders rely on speed to capture their prey. They are harmless to man.