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Signature Spider (hatchlings)
Argiope luzona
15.4561, 119.921
Field Notes
Description:
This spotting is an update on the Argiope luzona (female) which I have been observing and photographing in recent days. In https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/158993300... I showed how the spider had a very neat and tidy web and stabilimentum on Dec 6, 2023, but by the following day, Dec 7, everything had deteriorated into a shambolic state. The web had several holes, probably caused by heavy beetles flying through it and the stabilimentum was reduced to fragments. A quick comparison, of the Dec 6 and Dec 7 pictures, revealed that the spider had not repaired or renewed its web during that period. It should be understood that Argiope luzona spiders are known to be meticulous in repairing or rebuilding their webs every 24 hours (usually during the hours of darkness) because their lives depend on it. The web is their source of food (by trapping prey) and it also provides considerable protection against predation. Even a deadly mantis will not step onto the web as it would, almost immediately, become stuck and find itself unable to ward off an Argiope attack. The mantis is smart and will stay just off the web and wait for the spider to stray too near the edge and within striking distance. Then the mantis would have the upper hand. The other main danger, to A. luzona, is a Spider Wasp. It is capable of snatching a spider from its web and carrying it away, in a split second. However, if the spider sees the wasp approaching, it will shuttle to the other side of its web at incredible speed. This seems to confuse the wasp. So, it is easy to understand the importance of web maintenance and A. luzona always follows a strict regime, except when she is about to moult or produce a sac full of eggs. On Dec 8, everything became clear as described in https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/605637986 ... the web and stabilimentum had been restored to their former glory and everything looked perfect. A quick check showed that the spider had not moulted, but there, on the fence, was a beautiful new Argiope luzona egg sac. Please see Notes below.
Habitat:
This spider was in our backyard. Its web was attached to plant stems and leaves at one side and on a fence at the other.
Notes:
So, with a nice new egg sac on the fence, beside the female’s web, all I had to do was look in on the mother and her egg sac, each day. There would be nothing that I could do to help if anything went wrong while waiting for the hatchlings to emerge, but what could possibly go wrong? I have just developed a habit of checking on interesting spiders. After all, they are not like insects which tend to be here today and gone tomorrow. Once an Argiope luzona (female) sets up her web, that is usually where she will spend the rest of her life….literally. I knew, from previous observations, that the incubation period of the egg sac would be 6 days and I was counting. On the morning of the 4th day (Dec 12) I saw, as I approached the web, that there was no spider. There was the possibility that the female could be somewhere near, laying eggs and making a new sac, but when she had not returned by the next morning, Dec 13, I knew that she was dead. This was rather sad, but on the positive side, the egg sac was still intact and only one more day until the little ones would appear. This morning, Dec 14, exactly on schedule, the egg sac opened and out came several hundred little hatchlings. I was right there with my camera. In the few seconds it took to point the camera and focus, a good number had already emerged (my first photo), but a minute or two later, many more were out and moving around in the “cloud’ of spider silk which I think is created by the silk that the little spiders feed out to prevent falling down (perhaps like the safety rope of a mountaineer). All’s well that ends well.
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