More Future Spiderlings!

  Every now and again, I find something that sparks the curiosity and gets me pondering about things.  This afternoon while I was watering some peach tree saplings, a rather large white blob floated to the surface of the soil. (Yes, I really soak my plants.)  While I knew it was an egg or egg sac, its full identity was a mystery.  It fully resembled a spider egg sac but most spiders are highly protective of their sacs and are not likely to just abandon them.  Either the egg sacs are suspended in the web or are carried by the mother spider.  This one was under a bit of mulch in the flower pot. The enigma needed solving so I decided to research spider eggs and learn a bit more about our friendly, eight-legged neighbors.

  Most likely, due to the sheer size of the egg sac, this belongs to one of three spiders...a fishing spider, a wolf spider or an garden weaver spider.  All three can be found in the area where the egg sac was found and all three have sacs that are similar to this one.  Usually, the fishing spider and wolf spider carry their sacs with them while the weaving spider suspends hers in a web.  However, it is not unusual for any of the three to hide the egg sac for a bit if they feel threatened.  It is all about the protection of their young.

  The egg sac had floated out from Mama Spider's hiding spot and was now exposed to the world.  The silk case would protect it from the elements but not from predators so I gently layered it between a few bits of dry plant matter and sprinkled a slight bit dirt over the case.  Hopefully, I did as good as Mama at disguising her brood.   We are back on spiderling watch!