Ain't she a beauty?! I found this huge spider crawling up the side of our house the other morning. My first reaction was to scream and run--very far away. Instead, I ran in the house and got my camera, then slowly crept out trying to summon up the courage to get close enough for a good picture. The longer I stood there getting pictures, the braver I got. It was a bit chilly that morning and she wasn't moving fast, so I stepped right up to get some macro pictures. It was then that I noticed the babies.
She's a species of wolf spider (Family Lycosidae) and they, along with nursery-web and fishing spiders, are good mamas. First they carry the egg sac around under their abdomens, holding it in place with a bit of web. When the babies emerge, they cling to their mama until they are big enough to catch their own prey (their first meal often being one of their siblings). I think they are very fascinating!
Sorry the pictures are a bit dark. The sun hadn't quite come up and when it did, the spider ran under the house where it's nice and dark. If you look closely in the picture above (click on it to enlarge it), you can see an older, brown-colored baby up by her right front leg. It either emerged before the others or, more likely, it came from another spider and is eating the babies. There's also another light gray-colored baby above and to the left of that one. They would climb up and down her legs, but she never once made a move to get away from them.
A pencil next to her to show size comparison.
2 comments:
This is the sign of a true homeschooler. Instead of looking at the spider as something horrible, you see it as another example of learning.
Yesterday, the kids were at the beach catching moonjellies. Most people run from jellyfish not catch them. Fortunately moonjellies don't sting and our homeschooling crew knew that.
That is a terrific spider photo! It's amazing how many educative events and things pop up every day.
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