This afternoon I walked to local pond in search of dragonflies. Only Azure damselflies were active, half a dozen males bobbing about searching for females on the pond edge, a pair mating. As I looked for exuviae on the plant leaves, I noticed two female Pirate wolf spiders, possibly
Pirata piraticus, in silky retreats at the base of branched burr-reed leaves, both carrying their bright white egg sacs. Apparently, unlike other wolf spiders, they build silky tubes, sometimes partially submerged, from where they hunt passing insects.
