On Day 114: ‘Spider Eggs’ and Day 131: ‘Spider Defends Eggs’, we saw two female spiders guarding their egg sacs.

I missed the first lot hatching, but was lucky enough to check on this one just as they were crawling out of the egg sac. Talk about right place, right time!

Unfortunately the shots didn’t come out too well, but I thought it was interesting enough to warrant showing a slightly degraded image of the event. I hope you agree?

There was no sign of the mother. Abandoning her babies and leaving them to fend for themselves is quite normal behavior in the spider world. The spiderlings will disperse by choosing a high point, (in this case the eggs had been laid on the underside of a beanstalk leaf), spinning a silken thread and “ballooning”, or jumping off and allowing the wind to carry them away.

Exif Data
Focal Length: 4.1mm
Exposure Time: 1/80s
Flash: Off
F-Number: F3.3
ISO: 80
Metering Mode: Matrix
White Balance: Auto