Where did these eggs come from??

davisfam

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davisfam

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The reason we do not think the eggs belong to our spider is due to the fact that most ALL spiders put their eggs into a silk-like sac to protect them during the transformation into solid form. Research shows that all spiders do this "egg sac" process although there is not much info on this species so we're not sure exactly.

We really doubt that it is a type of fungus growth because her "home" is brand new. We just bought and 'decorated' it with new soil, etc. just 2 days before these eggs appeared. No trouble with mold or fungus in any of the other spider "homes" before but thanks for the idea!

*UPDATE; some of the eggs were missing this morning and the spider had killed the cricket right above the egg's location, could the cricket have eaten some of them? or did our spider bury them in another place? We'll try to post pictures later, if no one can figure this all out, haha. Thanks!
 

Moltar

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If it were fungus I'd expect it to have continued growing rather than just appearing overnight and progressing no further. If they're spider eggs then why aren't they in a sac? AFAIk no spider just lays fully formed eggs in a pile. They all make some sort of eggsac, yes?
 

Crysta

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hm some spiders who didnt take care of them properly might, like how some t's dont make a sac, or start webbing it up slowly then suddunly plop them all on the ground....

cricket would eat them though. wouldnt surpirse me at all.
 

Moltar

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hm some spiders who didnt take care of them properly might, like how some t's dont make a sac, or start webbing it up slowly then suddunly plop them all on the ground....
Yes except that they don't start out as solid eggs. If a spider just squeezed out her eggs onto the ground it would be more of a gooey puddle than a pile of fully formed eggs, yes?
 

Crysta

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Yes except that they don't start out as solid eggs. If a spider just squeezed out her eggs onto the ground it would be more of a gooey puddle than a pile of fully formed eggs, yes?
whoops I forgot about that part. I should know I just recently watched my fishing spider squirt goo into a sac.

Although it's possible some spiders end up differently? probably highly unlikely.
 

Moltar

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There very well may be some species that do lay solid eggs, I've just never heard of one. Silk is such a huge part of everything they do I can't imagine why a spider wouldn't make a sac.
 

Widowman10

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anyone have a Cc reproduce in captivity?



to be honest, when i first saw the pics, they look EXACTLY like solpugid eggs. i know they are not, but that is just what they look like. exactly, it's weird... :D
 

DDaake

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whoops I forgot about that part. I should know I just recently watched my fishing spider squirt goo into a sac.

Although it's possible some spiders end up differently? probably highly unlikely.
Interesting, I recently had a dolomedes okifinokensis who had started constructing an eggsac which was suspended above the substrate. She didn't have it quite right though, the silk mat she layed down to wrap the eggs in was at an angle. When she dropped the egg mass onto the silk mat they all rolled off onto the substrate. Looked alot like the pics supplied by the OP.

Dustin
 

Elytra and Antenna

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Yes except that they don't start out as solid eggs.
Spider eggs do not start out as goo, they are eggs. I'd like to know where you read a big pile of goo coalesces into ova.
Maybe the eggs were laid improperly and normally are laid in silk, things do not always work out. I'm assuming they aren't from another animal in the cage we don't know about.
 

jsloan

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Was the spider's abdomen any smaller after you discovered the eggs than it was before they appeared? If so, they likely came from the spider.
 

davisfam

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Update!

Interesting ideas; We appreciate ALL the feedback about these eggs. However, if a spiders eggs do not come out as 'goo' before becoming a solid egg-like form, there is a possibility that our Ctenus captiosus is the Mother to the eggs. Although, research shows that most ALL spider species will make a silk-like sac for their eggs. We have a friend who has kept this species in captivity before and he suggested that the spider could have missed her egg sac (much like 'DDaake' suggested) or it could be due to the health/age of our spider too; not exactly sure on her status of either one of those. She seems to be very healthy as she eats normally and is very active.

Elytra and Antenna; the only other insect in the cage was a cricket from a pet store and when we searched cricket eggs on the internet, they are not even close in appearance so, we don't think the eggs belong to anything else.

jsloan; No, her abdomen did not decrease in size, as it normally would, after we found the eggs. We have had other species reproduce and their abdomen shrinks dramatically after giving birth. These eggs with NO sac are something we have never delt with before, it's just kinda weird and different to us.

We were advised to search around the location of the eggs for a web or egg-sac that might be buried or well hidden so we are going to do that more towards dusk time; don't want to disturb our little sleeping spider! ;)

If ANYONE has ANY information on this species in captivity, please let us know ASAP, we appreciate all the help fellow spider friends! Thanks!
 

TheTyro

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I'd incubate them artificially, to make sure they don't mold up or dry out (assuming the spider did neglect to put silk around it?) Maybe it was going to wrap it in silk, but the cricket interupted the process by tryng to eat some of the eggs, and the spider forgot to finish?

Anyways, when they hatch, you'll find out what they are, right? :D
 

cacoseraph

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my bet would be goofed spider eggs


i think the problem with the tarantula goo situation is that tarantulas have deferred reproduction and as my understanding goes the female has to quicken the males sperm with some of her own goop. the sperm and sperm quickening agent are mixed and squirted out onto the unfertilized eggs. i believe fertilization is external and takes place in the eggsac. for a while there could be a bit of a soup in the eggsac but the fluids like, go away some how after a while. so it would kind of appear that the female squirts out a goo that turns into eggs.

now, i am not sure if that is perfectly accurate and even if it is pretty good to go i don't really think that is exactly how true spiders work... but that is my theory for the tarantula goop situation
 

Bjoern Elksnat

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Hi cacoseraph,

who speaks about tarantulas?

The spider of this thread is Ctenus captiosus, a Ctenid/"Wandering spider".

Have often these things before at different females/different species by myself, when the adhesive powers of the eggs is not enough to hold on the eggsac surface, the eggs drops out...

LG Björn
 

cacoseraph

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my bad, Elytra asked about where ppl read spiders squirt goo that turns into eggs. there has been a sort of debate bouncing around the tarantula section to that effect for a couple few weeks that i have noticed, so that is a like intermediate source of where that thought might come from

the first occurrence of tarantula in my post should have been spider, but i was typing fast =P
 

Moltar

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Spider eggs do not start out as goo, they are eggs. I'd like to know where you read a big pile of goo coalesces into ova.
Maybe the eggs were laid improperly and normally are laid in silk, things do not always work out. I'm assuming they aren't from another animal in the cage we don't know about.
I'm basing my statement on videos I've seen of tarantulas making sacs. When you compare the material they place in the sac as it is constructed to mature eggs there is definitely a difference in consistency. I get that they are distinct ova but there is still a runny, semisolid consistency to them when compared to later stage eggs that are about to emerge as eggs-w-legs.

It seems I'm wrong in assuming all spiders lay this way. I sometimes make such assumptions based on what I know about T's and am proven wrong. I guess that's what I get for being a know-it-all. :rolleyes:

Even so, the absence of any silken sac also seems to indicate these eggs didn't come from the spider in residence unless the theory put forth; that she "missed" the sac is true. That does seem to make sense, especially if they do actually lay solid eggs from the outset like you say. In the absence of any other possibilities the simplest explanation is probably the right one.
 
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Crysta

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Interesting, I recently had a dolomedes okifinokensis who had started constructing an eggsac which was suspended above the substrate. She didn't have it quite right though, the silk mat she layed down to wrap the eggs in was at an angle. When she dropped the egg mass onto the silk mat they all rolled off onto the substrate. Looked alot like the pics supplied by the OP.

Dustin
Was it at the way beginning? I find it looks different at the start. I think the 'goop' dehydrates some minutes later. I've also had some other garden spiders in the past, and one got stressed out, half created her spider web mass, and laid a mass of spider liquid goop of yellow eggs that landed on the substrate. But I guess I am talking two different species here, and a totally different one from the OP.
 
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