Do not touch the preemies!


There was some concern about a clutch of embryos that I accidentally removed from the egg sac prematurely. I was worried that they wouldn’t develop properly. Well, concerns allayed. They’re busy making legs just fine.

One catch, though, that I discovered to my horror. There’s a reason for that protective silk egg sac: at this age they’re just a delicate membrane over a ball of fluids, and they rupture at the slightest touch. I’m going to have to leave them alone until they’re tough enough to walk about on their own.

Comments

  1. blf says

    Besides providing some physical robustness to the eggs, could the protective silk egg sack have also been a barrier against microbes? E.g., against germs / infections? The membrane presumably provides some protection, but if it’s that delicate, is it sufficient?

  2. jrkrideau says

    Well, I was young enough to qualify for the first NICU.

    Or before? Just a damn good hospital. Best doctors and nurses available. And they were damn good.
    No reason we cannot have a fundraiser for an arachnid NICU.

    I am poor and cheap but we can probably all toss in ten or twenty dollars for the nursery.

    What does the UM-Morris say?

  3. jrkrideau says

    Err sorry PZ I mis-spelled the name. I do not live in the USA and occasionally my spelling may look look different.

  4. Le Chifforobe says

    You know, I’ve been reading these posts and learning about spiders, and it was helping me subdue my life-long arachnophobia. But now you’re posting straight-up alien facehuggers, and all I can say is
    NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE!!!!!!!

  5. Le Chifforobe says

    You know, I’ve been reading these posts and learning about spiders, and it was helping me subdue my life-long arachnophobia. But now PZ you’re posting straight-up alien facehuggers, and all I can say is
    NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE!!!!!!!