Infant spiders!-Embryo to Post-embryo

[TheTyro]

Took a video documenting my Callobius severus eggsac that I've been artificially incubating for the past two weeks (it's been laid for about three weeks though). Compared to Phidippus, they seem to take about a week or so longer to reach the post-embryo stage. I have two batches of Phidippus audax eggsacs that are already nearly caught up to them.
[YOUTUBE]uRcCqEDYG7g[/YOUTUBE]
Here are those photos in the video a bit bigger.

Even only a few days into development, you can see the dark lines where the legs are starting to show up.

I was wondering what their eyes would look like as post-embryos. They are just dark spots on the carapace haha. Really cute.

I also took some photos of a Phidippus audax embryo thats almost at the post-embryo stage. I think in a few more days they should be crawling around.

Vew from behind the abdomen, you can see the legs forming pretty clearly. Its cool that you can tell what half will develop into what really early on in the egg development, the abdomen is always orange and the head/legs a clearing white color.

No eyes yet, but you can see the chelicerae, legs are pretty well developed already.

I LOVE watching them develop. Every day is Christmas!

 

[Violet]

This is absolutely amazing, thanks for posting.

 

[Moltar]

Incredible photos! Thanks so much for sharing them. What were the eggs sitting on when you photographed them? Looks like... hair?

 

[Crysta]

Incredible photos! Thanks so much for sharing them. What were the eggs sitting on when you photographed them? Looks like... hair?

that's the paint brush i believe.

Awesome videos tyro, and what magnificent pictures! really enjoyable!!! please keep up the awesome work!

 

[Miss Bianca]

These are fantastic! Thank you for sharing these.

:worship: :worship: :worship:

 

[TheTyro]

that's the paint brush i believe.

Awesome videos tyro, and what magnificent pictures! really enjoyable!!! please keep up the awesome work!

Yup its a paintbrush. It's tricky seperating the spiderlings/embryos from the bunch so I have to use a paintbrush. It sort of acts like a hudred tiny tweezers, but waymore flexible...so I can pick them out without hurting them.

Thanks guys! I plan on taking a lot more of the different species, it's pretty interesting to see the different shapes at such a young stage.

 

[zonbonzovi]

Great documentation and a steady hand:worship:

 

[TheTyro]

thanks Zonbonzovi! It does take a bit of work to keep things from getting blurry...

I'll be adding more pictures and videos soon, since the P. audax embryos are now postembryos (as of yesterday afternoon)

 

[jsloan]

Great photos! Keep us posted on their progress. :clap:

 

[TheTyro]

Here is the P. audax part!

[YOUTUBE]PyHsQm5-Kag[/YOUTUBE]
And the pictures:

The moms tried their best to frighten me away. Poor things.

Darker colors, I'll take another set of photos tomorrow, because even since this photo (taken today) they are getting even darker.

 

[cacoseraph]

holy crap! it never occured to me that true spider eggs can be artificially incubated like tarantula eggs! that is rad!


the pictures are amazing. it cracks me up that true spider egg developmental pics look "wrongly shaped" cuz i have only ever seen tarantula pics like that. "where's its jaws going? what's with all that space in the head?" heh



in mammals you can kinda see a rough evolutionary history in our embryonic/fetal development. i wonder if any such thing is possible with the lower animals?

 

[TheTyro]

Hey Cacoceraph, that's a pretty interesting question and some cool observations....I'll have to make it my project to see how that works as best I can...

I am up to my ears in eggs and eggs with legs...I had grabbed a clump of sacs from a funnel web in a tree at a park, it thought they were already hatched because I saw shells and molts on one. But after about 4 days or it sitting on my desk I decided to open it up....

Lo and behold about 70 very active spiderlings popped out of one sac! There were four. I opened up another, there were a bunch of postembryos....another, a bunch of eggs...

So I have material for another video, but am not sure of the species...maybe tegenaria, maybe not...I will post it and see if anyone else can throw in their 10 cents!