Widow Egg Sac!

[xanderTluv]

Well my L. mactans that I aquired recently droped an egg sac! I serched through this forum and found some scattered information. But not all my questions were answered.
I want to end up with more females than males. What can I do to achieve this? When if ever should I remove the sac? I am currently raising Lycosidae sp. slings, are the widow slings just as small?

I took some neat photos, I will post them this afternoon!

 

[Code Monkey]

What I did was cull the males as they become evident. Unlike Ts, a male widow is very obvious well before maturity (probaby the 4th intstar). A quick grasp and squeeze with the tweezers and you've got only females eventually. Then, once they're getting big enough you separate them out and you enjoy the "harvest".

 

[xanderTluv]

Great idea Chip! So do you pull the sac and contain it then? And when would you say would be a good time to pull it?

 

[Code Monkey]

You can pull it at any time. Just suspend it in a delic up or other container with some vermiculite or something that you can keep moist. Mist once a week or so to keep humidity decent and nature will take care of the rest. The only sac of the wild female I caught a couple of years that didn't hatch was one that fell on the bottom and molded before I found it. It's around 3-4 weeks from the time they lay the sac until the slings emerge so make sure you get it into an escape proof container before then.

 

[xanderTluv]

Thanks for your input. I think I will leave the sac with her for a week or two, and then take your advice and contain it like you said.
I knew she was fertile when i got her because she had a sac with her that the slings had already disbursed from. So I knew it was just a matter of time before she dropped another one!

[edit spelling]

 

[Kugellager]

Hee's what I do. I place the eggsac in its own pill vial with a few pinholes...don't go larger than pinholes or you can have escapes...you don't want that. Then when they hatch out I let the 100's of slings cannibalize down to 10 or so then separate them out and feed them pinheads or 1/8" crickets. I have yet to get a male L.hesperus by this method.

I suspect the females are a bit more aggresive that the males and kill them off more readily as they cannibalize. I have done this 5-6 times with the same results. Though I do admit this was not a scientific experiment...its just what I have observed.

I usually find males in my garage at some point at the end of summer anyway so I'm not lacking in that area...the males live one maybe two months at most after maturity anyway.

John
];')

 

[xanderTluv]

Here's the pics! There's a bunch hope you enjoy them!

Here's my little lady!

 

[xanderTluv]

The sac!

 

[xanderTluv]

She made this cool little enclosure using the gravel and cypress bark! I thought that was neat.

 

[xanadu1015]

She seems to be very industrious


Anyway,

Whats the average amount of eggs that are in one egg sac? Is it true they can produce more than one egg sac?


Laura

 

[xanderTluv]

She seems to be very industrious


Anyway,

Whats the average amount of eggs that are in one egg sac? Is it true they can produce more than one egg sac?


Laura

I may be wrong but, I think they can have up to 300 slings. And yes they can drop multiple egg sacs through out their lives once fertilized! CM and Kugellager have had widows drop a dozen or so!

 

[Kugellager]

I may be wrong but, I think they can have up to 300 slings. And yes they can drop multiple egg sacs through out their lives once fertilized! CM and Kugellager have had widows drop a dozen or so!

My 'champion' L.hesperus produced 23 egg sacs in the year and a half I had her...17-18 of which were fertile and produced 100+ slings each.

In the wild they are reported to produce 7-9 for L.hesperus. However, since mine got regular feedings and optimum conditions I suspect this is the reason she produced so many.

John
];')