Mother and Babies

[jsloan]

Theridion impressum (Theridiidae). A colorful little spider that is common in my neck of the woods. The babies are just emerging from the egg sac. They stay with the mother for several weeks, sharing whatever food she catches. It's quite a sight to see them swarming all over the unlucky insects.

The spiderlings go through several molts during their first month, after which the mother dies or leaves and they stay on in the retreat of her web. This spider has built her nest in a raspberry bush, fashioning a retreat from a combination of foliage and the remains of prey. BL for the spider is about 4mm.

I took this picture from directly underneath the spider, looking straight up.

 

[jsloan]

Here's a picture of T. impressum babies swarming a fly their mother just caught. Yes, there actually is a fly inside that group of spiderlings!

(This is a different mother and brood, which I was keeping in a jar for observation)

 

[Widowman10]

They stay with the mother for several weeks, sharing whatever food she catches.

interesting. so does the mother essentially catch the food and feed it to her slings? if so, this seems to be different theridiidae behavior than i'm used to...

 

[ZergFront]

interesting. so does the mother essentially catch the food and feed it to her slings? if so, this seems to be different theridiidae behavior than i'm used to...

Cool, I just googled Theridion impressum. They're kind of pretty.

Someone I talk to about jumpers (yeah it's no jumper here) said her's would catch prey and the babies would swarm it as well. I doubt she meant the mother handed it over to them. Kind of reminds me of avic mothers..