We’re raising Steatoda borealis in the house, and one couple has produced two egg sacs recently. The male and female coexist just fine, and here you can see the male has the job of guarding his progeny.
This is part of Mary’s collection of spider friends, and she was a little worried about what to do when these hatch out. No problem — I’ll take over then.
Getting an early start on the ’24 arachnophila posts I see.
I just had to add “arachnophila” to my browser’s spellcheck dictionary. It wanted “arachnophobia” instead.
It’s good to see you still honing your male parenting skills, and that you don’t mind having such a young whippersnapper as a mentor.
You’ll take over? What do the parent Steatoda borealis spiders think of that?
Or do they die first or during like Charlotte in the eponyymous Web book?
Do the spiderlings not take care of themselves as I’d expect them too? Guess laboratory captivity vs wild natural life varies here?
Most spiderlings will die unless they find food reasonably quickly. The parents do not do anything to support their spiderlings — they’re done once they emerge, not that they do much before then.
Ok, cheers.
PZ is a much better parent than a typical spider.
Actually, I’m now becoming less of a spider fan. That jerk, relentlessly guarding his kids while they’re embryos, then just abandoning them to whatever fate once they’re born. I’ll bet he’s a Trump voter.