Eratigena agrestis egg sac

[aprilmayjunebugs]

So a couple of weeks ago I found this Hobo spider on my way home, and because I'm a crazy bug lady now, I brought it home for observation. I made it nice little home in a deli cup. Well this morning I was going to release it since there's no freezing temps in the forcast, but then I realized she was busily making an egg sac. Currently she's gathering little bits of substrate and sticking them to the outside, it's pretty cool to watch. My dilemma is I don't know how long it takes for the eggs to hatch and I'm not interested in raising baby hobos, lol. I'm afraid if they hatch in there they may be small enough to get through the vent holes. I'm thinking I should find a field and release mamma and her sac.

A few more pics since I can't seem to upload the video

 

[Ungoliant]

A few more pics since I can't seem to upload the video

While you can't upload videos directly, you can upload the video to YouTube and post it here. (You can just post the URL to the video, or you can use the YouTube tag in the post editor.)

 

[dangerforceidle]

The eggs shouldn't take very long to hatch, probably a few weeks.

@basin79 had an Eratigena atrica (or similar, giant house spider) lay eggs in his care, he may remember how long it took the eggs.

 

[basin79]

The eggs shouldn't take very long to hatch, probably a few weeks.

@basin79 had an Eratigena atrica (or similar, giant house spider) lay eggs in his care, he may remember how long it took the eggs.

The lass I had laid an egg sac on the 4th of April and it hatched by the 10th of May.

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

Thanks so much for the input. So I have maybe a month to figure out what to do with her. Any suggestions on what kind of environment would be best? Should I wait until they hatch to release or will it survive if I put the sac and her out? It's been a pretty mild winter here in Oregon, but a month from now it could be snowing. If I need to keep them inside to survive, what's the best way to do that and ensure they won't get out and be everywhere? Will they eat fruit flies? I haven't been able to get mom to eat anything so far. Sorry for all the questions, I just want to do right by these babies. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: I do know that they are not medically significant necrosis causing monsters they were once thought to be.
I also know they will stay on mom's back for a little while.
I get that if I hadn't intervened she would have laid them outside and nature would take it's course. But since I have intervened, and watched the entire process happen in my living room, I feel I have a responsibility to see to it that they live. Even if that means keeping them, separating them, and feeding them til spring so they don't freeze to death.

 

[dangerforceidle]

Placing them outside after the egg sac was laid indoors may cause the eggs to become non-viable, but it may be ok. Most of the young from the sac will not survive no matter where they hatch, due to predation, starvation, dessication, etc.. An unfortunate truth for many organisms that lead a 'wild' life.

They will eat fruit flies, each other, anything else small enough they can catch.

Spiderlings hitching a ride on the mother's back is mostly a characteristic of the family Lycosidae, the wolf spiders. The young from Agelenidae will hang around the mother's web for a while, but will likely quickly try to disperse. If you have a garage or shed or something similar, it's probably best to just let them disperse in there. Otherwise, using something like cheese cloth should permit some air transfer while preventing too many escapees.

 

[aprilmayjunebugs]

Apologies for the late response, holidays and all
Thanks so much for the helpful replies.
I have good news! I posted her on craigslist and a very nice college student who is studying entomology at PSU is interested in coming to get her! Wild, huh?
If for some reason that doesn't end up working out, I plan to let them hatch in here and then release them in an abandoned building to keep them somewhat sheltered from the weather.