Lynx Spider

Oxyopidae; Oxyopes javanus Thorell, 1887. I first noticed this female Lynx Spider guarding her egg sack on the morning of July 10, 2022. I had taken many photos of Oxyopes javanus (male and female) over recent years, but this was my first opportunity to take a picture of a female standing guard over her eggs. I had no way of knowing when the spider had ovulated and I did not know the incubation period, but I decided to document the remainder of the incubation period by taking pictures every day, morning and afternoon until the spiderlings hatched out. I thought this might have the makings of a good spotting on Project Noah. Please keep in mind that I cannot display all of my photos here, the maximum number I can squeeze in is six. So there will be gaps in the story of the spider and her eggs. Here we go:- Picture 1. Shows what I saw on the afternoon of the first day. P 2. Shows no change on the morning of the second day. P 3. The mother still guarding her precious eggs on the afternoon of the fourth day. P 4. Morning of sixth day. Alarm bells. The mother spider had disappeared (and I never saw her again), but there was still hope for the eggs. They could hatch without the presence of the mother. So I kept taking pictures. Up to and including the ninth day, there was no change in the condition of the egg sack So there was still the possibility of a good outcome. P 5. Morning of tenth day. More alarm bells. Something has happened to the egg sack, but what? There was obvious damage, but was this caused by the emergence of babies? I could not see any spiderlings, but I could see that there were still some eggs inside. Damaged or not, I didn't know. P 6. Afternoon tenth day. Disaster. Ants are raiding the egg sack. My hopes of a good outcome are dashed. Nature can be cruel.