干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

The desert spider, Diguetia mojavea Gertsch 1958, is a numerical dominant in many California deserts. We report data collected over a three-year period (1984-86) on reproduction, life history, phenology, microhabitat, prey, and dispersion for D. mojavea in the Coachella Valley, California. This is one of few studies to calculate life history table parameters for a desert arachnid. The average female laid 1065 eggs, while the net reproductive rate (R(o)) was 1.41; generation time (T) was calculated as 204.85 days. These spiders appear to fit a Type III survivorship curve. Density of D. mojavea was typical for a desert spider at 0.02 spiders/m(2). Finally, our findings complement the only other study on D. mojavea (Nuessly & Goeden 1984).