Web Weaving Spider Deposits its Eggs In Silk

3 years ago
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Egg sacs come in all shapes, sizes and colours. They may be built inside a burrow (e.g, trapdoor spiders), under bark (e.g, huntsman spiders), in the web (e.g., black house spiders), in a curled leaf (e.g., leaf curling spiders), suspended on a long line (two-tailed spiders), or hidden among foliage (e,g., orb weaving spiders). Some spiders stay with the egg sac, guarding it until the spiderlings emerge (e.g, huntsman spiders, trapdoor spiders) or carry the egg sac about with them (wolf spiders, water spiders), sometimes in their jaws (daddy-long-legs spiders). Wolf Spiders carry their spherical egg sacs slung from the spinnerets. When the young hatch they climb onto the mother's back, clinging to special knob-shaped hairs. The mother carries them about until they moult and disperse.

In many species, like orb weaving spiders, the egg sacs are simply abandoned, sometimes protected among leaves or in silk barriers, or even shallowly buried in soil (Nephila pilipes). Exposed egg sacs usually have a surface silk layer of dull brown, green or russet coloured silk, often further camouflaged with leaf debris to help prevent eggs being eaten or parasitised.

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