I reached under a chair that sits by the back door, sweeping out dead leaves, when I noticed a fringe of spider web on the underside. Flipped over, the chair turned out to be sheltering a spider and her enormous brood of spiderlings.
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| Mother and egg sac, with frass, and a few of the spiderlings in the upper left corner. |
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| A handful of spiders, about 1 or 2 mm. long. |
She had been very busy; there were four of those egg sacs, two still apparently still holding babies. And at least 100 chubby "lings" scattered over the whole bottom of the chair.
I had assumed that all spiderlings in the outdoors hatched in the spring. It looks like that theory needs refinement.
ReplyDeleteI had more or less assumed that, too, Tim. Someone forgot to notify the spiders.
ReplyDeleteI am wondering where all those babies will find shelter over the winter. That's assuming, again, that we will actually have a winter.
I noticed on the first sunny day after the long spell of fog that there were lots of floating spider webs up by the cabin. Big, long tendrils riding on the breeze. Maybe it is big spider activity time before winter sets in. - Margy
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