Natural History, Phenology & Image(s)
Feeding Guild:‡
orb weavers
‡Feeding guild when noted defined by Uetz, G. W., J. Halaj, and A. B. Cady. 1999. Guild structure of spiders in major crops. Journal of Arachnology 27:270-280.
Recorded Habitats:
M. dolloff builds its webs in the region extending from the cave’s entrance deep into the recesses of its twilight zone. The caves are in a Coast Redwood forest.
Life & Natural History:
According to Graham (1967), both adult numbers and overall population density are greatest closer to the cave’s mouth with juveniles predominating deeper in the caves. He also reported finding females guarding egg sacs in late summer. Their verticaly oriented webs are built in front of open walls and over niches and depressions in the rock while known prey items include the moth Triphosa haesitata and the harvestman Leibunum exilipes (D. Ubick, pers. com.).
Image(s) of Habitus:
Credit: Ledford, Joel
Details About Males
Description:
Carapace is glossy brown with lighter regions on thorax. Chelicera are dark brown with three teeth on the anterior margin and four on the posterior. Abdomen brown with a dorsal pair of dark anterior patches bordering two light triangular markings. Ventrally, the abdomen has two parallel light lines on a dark grey background. Legs are heavily spined and dark brown with lighter bands. The paracymbium of the male palpus is unique among the North American members of the genus in having both a large ventral finger and a smaller lateral one (M. ovalis (Gertsch) has only a ventral extension.)
Male Dimensions:
A+B = 11 mm
A = 5.9 mm
C = 4.5 mm
Image of External Male Genitalia:
(image not yet available)
Details About Females
Description:
Overall coloration similar to males but larger. Epigynum has a median notch in the anterior lip.
Female Dimensions:
A+B = 14 mm
A = 6.3 mm
C = 5 mm
Image of Epigynum:
(image not yet available)
Descriptions Source:
Levi, H. W. 1980. The orb-weaver genus Mecynogea, the subfamily Metinae and the genera Pachygnatha, Glenognatha and Azilia of the subfamily Tetragnathinae north of Mexico (Araneae: Araneidae). Bull. Mus. comp. Zool. Harv. 149: 1-7
Synonyms and Chresonyms†
| Meta dolloff Levi 1980 |
Taxonomic References†
Levi, H. W. 1980. The orb-weaver genus Mecynogea, the subfamily Metinae and the genera Pachygnatha, Glenognatha and Azilia of the subfamily Tetragnathinae north of Mexico (Araneae: Araneidae). Bull. Mus. comp. Zool. Harv. 149: 1-7
†Nomenclature and taxonomic references from the World Spider Catalog accessible at http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog/TETRAGNATHIDAE.html
Natural History References
Graham, R. E. 1967. The subterranean niche of Pseudometa biologica (Arachnida: Araneidae) in the Santa Cruz Caves, California with comments on ecological eqivalents in the cave environment. Caves and Karst 9: 17-22.
Other Nearctic Members of Genus Meta C. L. Koch, 1836‡‡
M. ovalis (Gertsch, 1933) ...............USA, Canada
‡‡May also include species with Palearctic distribution
Page Reference:
Adams, Richard J. submitted. Taxonomic and natural history description of FAM: TETRAGNATHIDAE, Meta dolloff Levi, 1980.
In: The Nearctic Spider Database. David P. Shorthouse (editor). World Wide Web electronic publication. Direct link: http://www.canadianarachnology.org/data/spiders/13872 (Accessed: 10/7/2008 1:31:48 PM).
Author Email Address: rjadams55@yahoo.com
Text Last Modified: 2007-07-31T01:05:42Z