Unknown spider found March 21, 2013 in a steam tunnel underneath the Beltsville Agriculture Research Center, Ashley Bradford suggested that this might be...Pholcus phalangioides?
Very interesting, mostly desert-dwelling spiders. O. zebra has never been collected from San Diego County, and the patterned abdomen is unique in the genus. The genus is otherwise remarkable for many reasons: only 2 eyes, only active on surface for brief periods after winter rains, apparently preferring to prey upon other spiders, and with bizarre ventral leg modifications perhaps related to this prey specialization. This female was collected from oak leaf litter near granite boulders, oak forest, east of Lakeside CA.