Grass Spider
Genus Agelenopsis
This was a large, beautiful, hairy Grass Spider and even more
bristly than the one I found in my tub
in Taylorsville. It was lounging in a building on Antelope
Island. © Carol Davis, 7-29-2009
You will notice right in front of the eyes on the pedipalps
are things that resemble boondoggle (am I showing
my age here by using this term?). When I asked the Bugguide.net experts
about this, they gave me this answer:
"Those long circular things are the part of the palp called the
embolus.
If the palp as a whole is akin to a needle
and syringe, the embolus is
the needle. It is this part of the palp that is inserted into the
female's epigynal
opening to deliver the sperm." ©Carol Davis, 7-29-2009

I lightened this photo to show the embolus on both palps. ©
Carol Davis, 7-29-2009
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