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Sunday 7 July 2013

The Nursery Web Spider

Nursery Web Spider with Egg Sack

She appeared one day sitting on her egg sack and had spun a small nest in a leaf nearbye, her maternity station.

Nursery Web Spider with Egg Sack

She then disappeared for a while, sitting in the maternity ward and awaiting the birth. Of course she did not realise that her steps were being photographed.

Nursery Spider with babies

She did not seem to care what happened around her. It rained, it stormed, but she was keeping an eye on her babies. They were still in the egg sack and she was waiting for the big day.

Nursery Spider with babies

The day arrived, the egg sack burst and her babies entered the world. They were all staying together, wondering what would happen next.

Nursery Web Spider babies

Day by day they grow, not so fast at the moment and they take a walk now and again. Mama seems to have disappeared, probably because they now have to grow up on their own. At the moment they are growing fast. I do not know what will happen next, but here is the latest photo. More to come perhaps.

The babies have arrived - Nursery Spider Web

4 comments:

  1. Excellent photos, Pat, documenting mama-spider's maternity. I wonder at what stage the spiderlets leave to go their own way?

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    1. I am still keeping my eye on things. I do know that our garden is not overrun by spiders afterwards. They are dispersed by the wind I think.

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  2. How interesting. Thanks for this, Pat. Surprising that Mum disappears at that stage; I suppose it was deliberate? I look forward to the next chapter in their life.

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    1. I don't think anything more is happening. One morning the nest was empty. They all disappeared during the night and are now living happily ever after in my garden or that of the neighbours. Mama spider disappeared for ever, her job is done. We used to have zebra spiders in the garden, the big black and yellow striped ones. The female just eat the male after he had done his job of increasing the zebra spider population - what a mother that was.

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