A Welcome Sight - Modem Melting Post...

Mechanical-Mind

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 18, 2003
Messages
186
I was on the phone with Jordan (KUJordan) when I walked in on one of my Latrodectus mactans making a sac. It was her second sac since a mating with a male I collected a few weeks back, while in Oklahoma with several guys from the VL.

Latrodectus mactans beginning the construction of her sac...







Latrodectus mactans pausing/preparing to insert egg mass...


Latrodectus mactans inserting egg mass...



In the next series, notice the rapid deflation of her abdomen. It's interesting to note that it wrinkled at first, and by the end of the ordeal, was more or less smooth again.

I was also down-right stunned as to how fast she was releasing the mass. While it was being excreted, she was rythmically bobbing her abdomen up and down, but in a slower, smoother, more 'controlled' fashion than when she was building the outer casing. I say controlled with hesitation, because the objectiveness, for lack of a better term, of her movements insured that she was clearly in control.














The eggs clearly visible with considerable magnification...






These last three are of her just starting to finish up.





She must have made several thousand points of contact while constructing the sac itself, ignoring all those during the excretion of the egg mass. I'm telling you, I would probably give both legs to be able to go back and video tap the process. It was just stunning, absolutely stunning. Her speed of webbing was baffling; constantly moving her spinnerets up and down while rotating around the structure. Lastly, I'd say it was also interesting to note that the male was in relatively close proximity to her while she was building, as every other moment while observing their cohabitation, he'd been off in an extreme corner of the enclosure, as if trying desperately to distance himself.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. The first image was taken a few moments after I noticed her. She continued to build for about 5 minutes or so before she inserted the egg mass, and spent another 40-50 minutes completely incasing it. The last image taken was roughtly 30 minutes after the first. Thus, she was still webbing after I left her.

Best regards,
-Matt
 

CaptainChaos

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Messages
184
Very nice images there! Hopefully i´ll get some widows next year, these pics inspire ;)
 

KUJordan

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 22, 2005
Messages
344
what are you talking about, questionable pic quality? those are great pics and depict the process very well. Only, if I were you I'd try to "tape" the sac making episode next time, but I don't know about trying to "tap" it. That's disgusting anyway, considering she's already a MOM! Good looking spider though.
 

Glen Southern

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 3, 2006
Messages
86
Fantastic to watch. Very informative thread. Thanks for sharing these images.


Glen
 

lilhildy

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 4, 2006
Messages
44
Those are absolutley amazing pictures!!! I can't wait to check off some more Latrodectus species off my dream list and add them to my current collection list!!;P
 

swatc1h

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 3, 2004
Messages
371
That's badass, try disturbing her while she in the process of a eggsac. I'd bet she still go @ it.
 

Gigas

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 6, 2006
Messages
1,976
Do the eggs come out in a fluid or are the contained in some form of membrane?
 

diadematus

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 27, 2004
Messages
125
I'm interested in your setup for keeping them. What kind of container is that? What size, etc.? If this has already been posted please refer me.

Many thanks (also for the images)

-Kevin
 

lilhildy

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 4, 2006
Messages
44
I am proud to say that I received this sac in trade and on saturday (10/28/06) it popped:eek: .... and holy mactans!!! {D Rough count as i havn't seperated them yet is at 125+ (very rough count as they don't seem to like to sit still very long.) They seem to like the injured crickets that i place in the comunity web for them. I will try to post pics soon.:rolleyes:
 

diadematus

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 27, 2004
Messages
125
I am proud to say that I received this sac in trade and on saturday (10/28/06) it popped:eek: .... and holy mactans!!! {D Rough count as i havn't seperated them yet is at 125+
Hi,

What does one do with 125 spiders (or however many survive)? Do you raise and sell them?

-Kevin
 

lilhildy

Arachnopeon
Joined
Feb 4, 2006
Messages
44
Right now its a game of survival of the fittest. After they thin out and fatten up I will start separating and raising. I keep some for breeding, some go out for trades and then sell a few. Right now their abdomens are about 1.5-2mm accross and they are taking prekilled crickets that i place in the comunity web. So far they seem to prefer cricket over sibling. Hope to start seperations this weekend... If i can find enough small containers. :rolleyes: ;P
They are definetly awesome to watch. Amazing team work as long as they are all fed. ;)

~Josh

P.S.
If anyone would like some feel free to toss me a PM...I will definetly have some extra available. As it looks so far, I am having a great survival rate... I'll recount tonight.
 
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