16 
Psyche 
[March 
Reproduction 
The egg sac and its web 
The egg sacs of M. simus, M. sp. 1, M. sp. 3, and M. intempus 
were tubular and elongate, two to four times the length of the 
spider, and very similar in color to the adult female. The egg sacs 
of M. simus and M. sp. 1 were brown, while those of M. sp. 3 and 
M. intempus were lightly coated with green silk. The sacs were 
thin-walled, with no fluffy silk inside, and the outlines of the eggs, 
which were arranged in one or two rows, were clearly visible. 
The females stayed by the egg sacs during the day, either in a 
stick posture in line with the sac (Fig. 9) or holding one end of it 
with leg I, as seen in some M. sp. 1. In these positions both the 
spider and the egg sac were difficult to recognize; they looked like 
a dead twig. One M. simus female remained with an egg sac con- 
taining 52 eggs for 2 weeks in an outdoor cage. During this time 
she did not construct a capture thread. One M. sp. 1, however, 
nightly abandoned the daytime cryptic posture and laid several 
more or less horizontal, radial lines, suspending the sac by one end 
from the “hub” of this tiny web (Fig. 10). A single jagged loop of 
sticky silk was laid and the spider rested under the hub. When a 
Figure 9. Daytime posture of a Miagrammopes sp. 1 (ca. unipus) female with 
an egg sac. 
