- 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
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