Black Widow Egg Sac!! *PICS*

[Removed_2815]

Greetings all,
Well, I had mentioned in a previous post that my female L. hesperus bestowed upon me a large fertilized egg sac. Unfortunately, I am unable to incur the risks associated with hatching out the egg sac, so, sadly, I was forced to terminate it. The prospect of controlling 300 to 500 spiderlings less than 1 mm is likely an impossibility (it would drive me crazy ensuring that there are no escapees!).
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/3666Black_Widow_with_egg_sac.JPG
This first photo clearly illustrates the immense energy investment a female Widow must devote to constructing an egg sac that is so much larger than her. In fact, she was a very robust and heavy spider prior to the egg sac and literally ended up looking like a large ant by the time she was done. Upon feeding her afterwards, it was only minutes before she began swelling up with the internal "juices" of her prey!

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/3666Egg_sac.JPG
This second photo was taken for size reference. The exit hole that the spiderlings would have utilized is clearly evident in the photo (where the sac begins to taper like a funnel).
The egg sac is 1.403 cm at it's widest, and 1.578 cm from the exit hole to the top.

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/3666Egg_sac_opened.JPG
This last photo is by far the most remarkable, in that you can see each individual egg (I think it's fair to say that there are approximately 300 eggs in there). You can see from the reference ruler that each egg is approximately only 1 mm in diameter! The eggs are also very "loose", in that I had a hard time keeping them from rolling away!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post. Click here (http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=33100) for information (and photos) on how this beauty originally came to be in my possession.

Cheers,
Ryan M Bolton

[SaIiLdVaEnR]

Sorry to hear you had to terminate it, I surely would have taken some off your hands. Maybe next time, cool post, very informative.

[daver676]

Great photos! Very educational. Too bad about the termination part, but that WOULD be a huge responsibility.

[Removed_2815]

It is very unfortunate I had to terminate it, however, I am so obsessively and compulsively neurotic that it would have killed me worrying about the little ones getting loose.
I will be allowing at least one of her future egg sacs to come to term (females are capable of producing 9 to 12 egg sacs from a single mating during their lives). This egg sac was kind of a surprise and as soon as I can devote some serious thought into containing the spiderlings (I am thinking a container that has been coated with vaseline around the edges to prevent escapes), I will be able to hatch out one of her next sacs.
Cheers,
R

[Emily-Fisher]

Those are awesome pics! Wow, I would have thought that the eggs would be sticky and wouldn't roll everywhere... I guess I thought wrong! Even though you had to terminate the sac, congrats anyway! It must of been really amazing to watch!

Ooh and if you ever have another egg sac and end up keeping the babies, don't forget to tell me! I would definitely be interested in taking one off your hands.. ;)

[Dragoon]

Hahaha, think about it Emily....

I take one and you take one...
now he only has 298 to feed!

hahaha, I'm cracking up...I couldn't resist...
Cheers
D.

[Emily-Fisher]

LOL! You're such a nut!

Eh, I'm sure that it wont be too hard lowering that down to 297..

[Removed_2815]

Originally posted by Emily-Fisher
don't forget to tell me!
Ha, I won't forget to tell you Emily. Tell you what, if you take all 300 you can have them for $3.00 total! That's only $0.01 per CB L. hesperus! You can't beat that....
Cheers,
R

[Bartman]

thats not bad lol..cool pics..i would have thougth teh same thing with about the eggs. What would you feed them..pin heads? And would they be so small that you couldnt see them or would they look about the same size as pin heads? Thats a lot of spiders!!

[Kyle Barker]

Very cool! I keep mine like people keep fruit flys, jar with paper towel folded and lid screwed on. I use cloth sometimes too, 0 escapes thus far. only takes a couple weeks and they are fairly large and easy to seperate.

is that the girl from the grapes?

[Yness]

ugh spiders....Amazing to see how nature works...How long to they stay in the egg sac before hatching? can you save one or two of the eggs?

[Removed_2815]

Originally posted by Bartman
What would you feed them..pin heads? And would they be so small that you couldnt see them or would they look about the same size as pin heads?
They would be able to take pinheads on their own easily. Kyle had mentioned that he has seen spiderlings feeding off of their mother's kill, so prey size is likely not a factor (so long as it's dead, they should be able to extract some nutrients from the prey item). The spiderlings would likely be about the same size as pinhead crickets.

Originally posted by Kyle Barker
is that the girl from the grapes?
Yep...

Originally posted by Yness
How long to they stay in the egg sac before hatching? can you save one or two of the eggs?
About 28 days, give or take. It is likely not possible to only save one or two of the eggs and have them hatch out, however, I have never tried nor read about any successful attempts. I have a feeling that without the protective shroud of the sac and the other eggs, an individual egg would dessicate.

Cheers,
R

[vanderkm]

Fascinating - thanks for sharing,

mary v.