Stacey's Web Development Co.

[The Snark]

And back to the Pepper predicament. @Ah Lee I briefly caught up with a scientist friend for a moment. He summed up what we already know. " You're guessing in the dark. Isolated incidents. You have nothing without repeatability."
So you might want to warn your significant other you will need to raised five or ten generations with a good selection of each generation. Shoot for 10 or 20 of each.
On the bright side, on down the road if you ever need to offer proof you may be mentally challenged, say, make a case for possible dementia onset, you will have plenty of proof.

 

[Ah Lee]

Those are just the developing slings.

Awww yes!! Thank you for that, you have no idea how much of a relief this is. They should be ready to pop soon if all goes well!

And back to the Pepper predicament. @Ah Lee I briefly caught up with a scientist friend for a moment. He summed up what we already know. " You're guessing in the dark. Isolated incidents. You have nothing without repeatability."
So you might want to warn your significant other you will need to raised five or ten generations with a good selection of each generation. Shoot for 10 or 20 of each.
On the bright side, on down the road if you ever need to offer proof you may be mentally challenged, say, make a case for possible dementia onset, you will have plenty of proof.

Dementia would be the least of my worries. I'm pretty sure my wife would have poisoned my coffee by then

It's time to take a hike soon though. Take a closer look at their webs, their environment. I'm pretty sure I will be able to find out something!

 

[Ungoliant]

Awww yes!! Thank you for that, you have no idea how much of a relief this is. They should be ready to pop soon if all goes well!

When they molt in the egg sac, you can sometimes see them darkening beforehand.

I have some Trichonephila clavipes sacs outside that I am monitoring. I rescued the mother from winter, and before she passed, she made two sacs she would not have been able to make otherwise. The slings should emerge within the next few weeks, I hope.

 

[Ah Lee]

When they molt in the egg sac, you can sometimes see them darkening beforehand.

I have some Trichonephila clavipes sacs outside that I am monitoring. I rescued the mother from winter, and before she passed, she made two sacs she would not have been able to make otherwise. The slings should emerge within the next few weeks, I hope.

I am jelly, the T.clavipes is a really pretty species, especially with the furry legs. Fingers crossed!

Another shot in the dark

I've been trying to read up as much as I can regarding orbweavers for the past few days, and there is so much info that I'm trying to absorb, and even arachnologists do not know everything about these fascinating creatures yet.

I took my trip today to go look at some Nephila webs in the wild, trying to figure out what else I can do to replicate their natural diet as much as possible. From someone who is merely a hobbyist, the best I can do is to try replicate wild conditions the best I can.

Part of my research seems to suggest that spider webs and a spider's chance at survival is not as dependent on regular, small prey as I thought. Instead, they are extremely dependent on a rare event: the capture of a rare/large insect.

For a wild specimen, this rare event usually dictates their survival and reproduction success. This rare/large insect can provide 60 days worth of nutrition of small insects. Well, Pepper definitely isn't starving, but how crucial is this event really?

So I was looking for a large insect that is rare, but isn't too rare either because Nephilas seem to thrive in the forests I frequent. Something that is widespread enough that Nephilas all over the globe have access too. I tried thinking about what is was, but it was hard to concentrate with all those cicadas chriping loudly amongst trees.

Cicadas chirping loudly amongst the trees...

CICADAS CHIRPING LOUDLY AMONGST THE TREES.



Here we go, my shot in the dark for the day. Worth a shot, ain it? In any case Pepper went mad for it. It was huge and struggled really wildly while chirping, but Pepper went straight for it and subdued it. At the very least, she seems to love it!



Skittles gets one too. Again for such a large insect, I am surprised at how willingly Skittles attacked it head-on. Both of them are happily munching away now, so that's it for now!

 

[The Snark]

Paradox. Very short lived and ideal prey for a neph. Conversely, the large cicadas often destroy large swaths of a neph web and can maim or even kill the spider. I've had them draw blood when I wrangle them to save them from the attention of our cats. Similar to grabbing a miniature chain saw.

 

[Ah Lee]

Paradox. Very short lived and ideal prey for a neph. Conversely, the large cicadas often destroy large swaths of a neph web and can maim or even kill the spider. I've had them draw blood when I wrangle them to save them from the attention of our cats. Similar to grabbing a miniature chain saw.

Yes they do feel really powerful, especially the male! Luckily for the employees of SWDC, prey usually meets the door really hard before meeting them. Sometimes twice.

I have gained the dexterity to be able to weaken most of them without killing them outright. When I first started many of them just went splat, or just flew away laughing.

 

[The Snark]

I have gained the dexterity to be able to weaken most of them without killing them outright. When I first started many of them just went splat, or just flew away laughing.

That's my big problem; my fine motor skills are shot. Gone, zip. Attempting to rescue a small critter requires I use a medium like a cloth or tissue, or let my wife do it. (Being a Hmong jungle girl she's a pro at catching critters anyway.)

 

[Ungoliant]

I am jelly, the T.clavipes is a really pretty species, especially with the furry legs. Fingers crossed!

I consider myself fortunate that they are native to my area. Unfortunately, ever since the county began carpet bombing the area with mosquito spray, they have become scarce. I used to find them everywhere, with several large females in my yard alone, but now I am lucky to see a couple of them when walking for an hour.

 

[Ah Lee]

The tired human slave

SWDC's parent company has been fighting some financial issues lately, and I'm so burned out with work and stress I barely have time to watch the little employees much. But the rare few moments I do get to interact with them, I still love watching them do their thing, and checking on them in the morning is still my favorite part of the day.

After my experiment with the cicada, Pepper has just given up on all semblance of web-building, and sits happily on her damaged web, very satiated and probably feeling really lazy. I fed her another huge butterfly this morning, and I'm interested to see if another molt or eggsac is coming up.

Coffee is thriving. She still keeps her web in tip-top shape, and I still throw random midges into her web whenever I see them, on top of her usual cricket leg. She's still very shy, but pops out every now and then as I'm working.



Skittles is still the same ol' Skittles. She's absolutely porked out on the last cicada too, and doesn't hang out outside that much now.

The kids appear to be doing great! This is one of the things I am most looking forward to. Most of them are now black, and by my estimates I would say they will drop anytime this week if all goes well.



I am just so tired with human life now, I just wanna rest. I'll get over this lull soon like I always will. Hopefully in time to look after my new batch of babies!

I consider myself fortunate that they are native to my area. Unfortunately, ever since the county began carpet bombing the area with mosquito spray, they have become scarce. I used to find them everywhere, with several large females in my yard alone, but now I am lucky to see a couple of them when walking for an hour.

The sad fact of modernization. There are so few pristine places left on my little city state as well, but we're still lucky we still have a few nature reserves. With paved roads and benches, but oh well.

 

[Charliemum]

I am glad the girls are OK as always you have done an amazing job and gone above and beyond to even catch their food but Lee you must take time for you! I know that is easier said than done with our busy human lifestyles but make sure, even if it's only listening to your favourite music on your way to work or sitting in a garden or park for 30 mins do something good for you. Sending good vibes for you and yours I hope you feel more like you soon

 

[TwoTheSecond]

I've been reading through this forum the past few days and its been really cool to see your journey with these spiders! I'm excited to see what comes next, and I wish you luck and hope you are able to get some rest soon, stay strong!

 

[Ah Lee]

I am glad the girls are OK as always you have done an amazing job and gone above and beyond to even catch their food but Lee you must take time for you! I know that is easier said than done with our busy human lifestyles but make sure, even if it's only listening to your favourite music on your way to work or sitting in a garden or park for 30 mins do something good for you. Sending good vibes for you and yours I hope you feel more like you soon

Thanks as always @Charliemum ! I've been doing ok, working 2 jobs now to keep my business going, I'll pull through! Spending time with my girls is always the favorite part of my day, and I'm lucky they are literally just hanging around my office

I've been reading through this forum the past few days and its been really cool to see your journey with these spiders! I'm excited to see what comes next, and I wish you luck and hope you are able to get some rest soon, stay strong!

Thank you, and welcome to the SWDC thread (pun intended)!

The elusive one

So far I probably have the least photos of Skittles. That girl is really hard to photograph. She usually only hangs around outside when it's dark. When we turn on the lights she'll usually not be too bothered, but the slightest vibration and she runs away. Her cage is also in a corner of the room and my room has really bad lighting.

Anyways yesterday I woke up early and the sun was lighting her cage really nicely, and she was out. I fed her a cricket to pacify her, and finally got my shot!



Coffee looks very much like mommy Skittles now, I almost uploaded the wrong photo, but you can see mom has a different colored abdomen.

Company updates

It's been a very uneventful month at SWDC. Everyone is just being themselves, eating and not doing much. I predict May to be a much more exciting month.

Pepper has gotten really, really fat again. I'll take a photo of her tomorrow if I come home early, so I suspect a 2nd batch might be on the way. She has rebuilt her web 2 times now, eating the entire hub and rebuilding it, but it's still the same mysterious design. Oh well, as long as she's healthy, that's all I ask for.

Pepper's eggsac hasn't hatched yet. It's a little over 30 days now and I'm getting worried, but so far they don't seem to be going bad, so fingers crossed.

Coffee is my favorite little thing now. She's grown up so healthy, and is a lot less shy now so she hangs out beside my monitor just doing her thing. Her web is regularly maintained, almost every other day, and she seems to be happy keeping within her new boundaries.

She eats a lot, and really quickly. She currently has SWDC's first and only natural kill. An alate flew into the room and she caught and ate it. Way to go! I have no idea where she stores all her food, but that little butt looks close to exploding and she's still not molting. I expect her molt to be coming this week, we'll see!

 

[Charliemum]

So glad your OK and feeling better well a bit lol just make sure you rest and as always lovely pic it's nice to see Skittles in her full glory and I am sure Peppers eggs will be fine if they look good hopefully all will be well I look forward to the next installation of SWDC

 

[Ah Lee]

Happy Mother's Day!

And what a Mother's Day it's been this time at SWDC! The 2 mothers have really been keeping me busy, and this time I was lucky enough to witness them both laying their eggs.

Pepper's 2nd eggsac

Pepper was eating a lot, and quickly looking really gravid. This is her just a day before she popped.



Yesterday she disappeared from her web, and I found her in a corner of my room. I decided to move her to the company hospital for her safety, and in about 5 hours she started displaying egg-laying behavior.

She started digging the tissue paper up. Interestingly, I just learnt only the Nephila pilipes do this, and many other Nephila species build hanging eggsacs.

I quickly set up my professional videography equipment: an iPhone stolen from my wife.



The entire process took about 4 hours, and I edited the video to cut it short, but watching her is amazing. She builds her eggsac so carefully and meticulously, building it strand by strand.

Once the eggsac was completed, I let her rest one night in the hospital, and the next time I put her back on her web.

I cut out the piece of tissue the eggsac was on, and laid it among a bed of vermiculite. I will assume it would be more natural to bury in in the vermiculite, but it would mean it's harder to monitor them, and I fear overwatering them.

In the end, I opted to place it on a little bottle cap.



I went with less holes than the other eggsac, hopefully ventilation will be enough that it doesn't become too soggy inside, but I'll keep a close watch and adjust as neccessary.

Skittles' 6th eggsac

Meanwhile, on the same day, Skittles has just had her 6th eggsac. That girl is not just a web-building machine, she's an egg-laying machine! She's easily SWDC's hardest worker.

I only managed to capture the end, but you can see how different their techniques are. Pepper uses her legs, while Skittles does a little butt wiggle. Skittles takes things one more level, and always covers her eggsac with some debri to help hide it from predators. Talk about meticulous!

The amount of effort both moms take to build their sacs is really amazing to watch, and they are always extremely skinny after that. I caught 6 butterflies today, and everyone had 2 including fat Coffee.

Coffee the omnomnom monster

Coffee is an absolute monster. I have been feeding her larger prey now, and she eats all of them happily with no leftovers. She usually hides and doesn't respond to vibrations when she isn't hungry, but lately she's been out waiting every single night. I have no idea how that little butt can store so much dead insect, but it can.

Her she is tonight with 2 winged alates that flew into my room. She gets pampered so much because every time a random insect comes in, it's usually hers.



Pepper's first eggsac

Pepper's first eggsac is still in incubation. It's taking longer than I thought, but I the only source that I found that mentions her species states that incubation is 30-60 days, as opposed to 20-30 days I read about for the other Nephilas, so still fingers are crossed!

The TP substrate has had a little mold growing in the corner, so I changed it out and replaced it with fresh vermiculite.

And that's about it! Everyone is really tired and malnourished now from the hard work (except Coffee, who is just pigging out), so we're all on leave and I'm gonna spend tomorrow catching big, juicy insects for the little employees.

 

[Charliemum]

Wow Lee great vids the girls have worked so hard! and coffee looks so fat but so glad she's been out more lately, all those eggsacs your gunna be over run with baby spoodas. enjoy your day off hinny you deserve it!

 

[XxSpiderQueenxX]

Awesome thread, awesome, and very beautiful spooders! I wish I could find things like these in CA lol

 

[MrGhostMantis]

Awesome thread, awesome, and very beautiful spooders! I wish I could find things like these in CA lol

There are some pretty cool orb weavers in Cali actually. Ton of other sick trues and Ts too.

Great thread! I’m excited to see the baby Peppers!

 

[Ah Lee]

Awesome thread, awesome, and very beautiful spooders! I wish I could find things like these in CA lol

I'm giving away some of the slings if you ever are interested in some! Skittles' next batch should be hatching in 3 weeks time, and Pepper's should be in a few days, so let me know if you want a few and I'll be happy to send them your way.

 

[XxSpiderQueenxX]

I'm giving away some of the slings if you ever are interested in some! Skittles' next batch should be hatching in 3 weeks time, and Pepper's should be in a few days, so let me know if you want a few and I'll be happy to send them your way.

That would be awesome!

 

[MrGhostMantis]

That would be awesome!

Sadly it’s not possible. If you got caught shipping slings from somewhere in SE Asia to California you would get a heavy fine and the spider confiscated. Just an FYI.