Government Canyon Bat Cave Spider

Tayshaneta microps has a hard light brown bristle bearing shell known as a carapace. Its legs are elongated and thin covered in hair-like structures called setae with few scattered spines. The abdomen is pale to yellow-brown and is also covered in setae. The typical body length is 1.35mm(0.053 inches) which can be divided into subparts. The caraspace - hard outer shell - is typically 0.64mm (0.0252inches) long and 0.56mm (0.022 inches) wide. The abdomen of the Tayshaneta microps is approximately 0.7mm (0.0276 inches) and 0.54mm (0.0213inches) wide.

Tayshenata microps lives in karst limestone caves and are an obligate species. The spiders can no longer have the ability to live in a drier environment so they have to live in the conditions the caves provide. These caves are high in humidity and maintain stable temperatures. The spiders will retreat to a deeper, more habitable portion of the cave in extreme conditions outside the cave.

No information currently available on number and size of offspring and sex ratio of offspring.

Since Tayshaneta microps is a troglobite, it is difficult for scientists to capture and study them. The caves that these spiders reside in have more caves than entrances and ninety percent of them are closed off from human access. Therefore, scientists for the most part are unable to study these spiders. According to Professor Joel Ledford of UC Davis, for the most part, there is no information currently available on Tayshaneta microps life history.

Development. Egg sacs for another related species only contained a few eggs. No information available yet on larval stage, nymph stage, adult stage.

Timing of reproduction. No information currently available on number and size of offspring and sex ratio of offspring.

Age of dispersal. Tayshenata species live sedentary lives living mainly in webs for their whole life except for males who may sometimes leave upon maturity. They do not disperse far as they are known only from two caves.