Looky what Mabel made!

[Reluctant Widow Mother]

She's the lovely widow I rescued from under a picnic table. Widows in her area have larger, brighter hourglasses than the widows I rescued from near my mother's house, even though the populations are only about five miles apart. I don't like removing animals from natural habitats, but she was in a place that was dangerous for both her and humans. I didn't know whether or not she was fertile. My infertile female, Patty Black, has never laid one, so apparently, I'm about to be a widow mother again. As an aside, this is the biggest egg sac laid by any of my females.

 

[darkness975]

She's the lovely widow I rescued from under a picnic table. Widows in her area have larger, brighter hourglasses than the widows I rescued from near my mother's house, even though the populations are only about five miles apart. I don't like removing animals from natural habitats, but she was in a place that was dangerous for both her and humans. I didn't know whether or not she was fertile. My infertile female, Patty Black, has never laid one, so apparently, I'm about to be a widow mother again. As an aside, this is the biggest egg sac laid by any of my females.

View attachment 436307

We can always use more native Latrodectus.
A lot of mine have similar full bright hour glasses. They look fantastic. They do seem to fade when approaching the end of their time though.

 

[Reluctant Widow Mother]

Beautiful, beautiful spiders! I can't believe how much I used to hate them. I think learning about them and viewing them with a scientific eye has given me a new appreciation. I'm not about to go around handling them. I still respect them and even fear them a bit, but I don't hate them. They're beautiful. And they have a place in nature.

I think I'll leave the egg sac with Mabel until it starts turning dark. I'm not sure how I want to handle the hatching. I turned brand new babies loose once and they got all over me...LOL. I need to order some teensy habitats, I guess.

Hope you're having a good one!

 

[The Snark]

Reading this thread just now has made me feel nostalgic. Reflecting, Hesperus has been a common recurring presence in my life for over 60 years. Countless encounters inevitable for an outdoors person poking about in the rural areas all over California - you naturally assume 'there's going to be a black widow or two in there'. And Rick Vetter recently setting mine and others minds at ease in that Geometricus won't be able to displace Hesperus as they cannot tolerate some habitats native to the species.
So thanks to this thread for the trip down memory lane.

 

[darkness975]

Reading this thread just now has made me feel nostalgic. Reflecting, Hesperus has been a common recurring presence in my life for over 60 years. Countless encounters inevitable for an outdoors person poking about in the rural areas all over California - you naturally assume 'there's going to be a black widow or two in there'. And Rick Vetter recently setting mine and others minds at ease in that Geometricus won't be able to displace Hesperus as they cannot tolerate some habitats native to the species.
So thanks to this thread for the trip down memory lane.

I am happy to hear Rick's report on the L. geometricus.

 

[darkness975]

Beautiful, beautiful spiders! I can't believe how much I used to hate them. I think learning about them and viewing them with a scientific eye has given me a new appreciation. I'm not about to go around handling them. I still respect them and even fear them a bit, but I don't hate them. They're beautiful. And they have a place in nature.

I think I'll leave the egg sac with Mabel until it starts turning dark. I'm not sure how I want to handle the hatching. I turned brand new babies loose once and they got all over me...LOL. I need to order some teensy habitats, I guess.

Hope you're having a good one!

Thanks ! Those pics are of both L. mactans and hesperus. Can you tell the difference ??

 

[The Snark]

Those pics are of both L. mactans and hesperus. Can you tell the difference ??

Hint. Use cryptonanalyst methodology. Side by side repetitive comparisons until the replications and deviations become apparent. And a nod and gracious bow to Alan Turing who founded this principal applied to breaking the Enigma cyphers which he expounded and expanded on with his principals at the foundation of the CPUs in the computers you are now using to read this.

 

[darkness975]