Pisaurina mira (Nursery Web Spider)

Summary

The "Nursery Web Spider," Pisaurina mira, is a large hunting spider that overpowers its insect prey. The female spins an egg sac that she carries in her jaws. She suspends it in a tangled “nursery web” amid foliage just before the babies emerge. There, she guards the sac and the spiderlings that emerge from it. Reproduction takes place in spring or summer and immature specimens overwinter in snug, sheltered situations. This is a spider of forest edges and old fields. Look for them lying in ambush on leaves and stems, both day and night. They also actively prowl in search of potential prey. They sometimes wait at outdoor lights for the insects attracted there. This is a common species in the northeast U.S. and adjacent Canada, but it ranges throughout the eastern United States. Nursery web spiders are frequently mistaken for wolf spiders, but nursery web spiders are more likely to be seen in the vertical plane. Wolf spiders, while they can climb, prowl mostly on the ground.