Nisquallia olympica ovipositing

On a trip to Sunrise Ridge trail on 10 18 08, I photographed this female ovipositing, or trying to.

She would wiggle the tip of her abdomen between bits of shale, and force it into soil underneath. Sometimes she would kick small rocks aside (6). After a few minutes, she would move to another nearby spot. I excavated two of her holes (about 3-4 mm in diameter) down to solid rock, 1-2 centimeters in both cases, but didn’t find any egg case. hole photo 1 She may have been searching for a location with enough depth of soil.

In summer 2009, we kept two pairs of Nisquallia in a small terrarium. Both females oviposited, exhibiting the same general behavior. I later collected the egg cases. (See Reproduction > Eggs)