Macro Monday {Egg Sacs}

Way back in October, I did an inventory of all the egg sacs from garden spiders. In case you do not know, I observe those garden spiders that make their home (web) on the backside of our house and garage. And, I especially pick one or two to observe during their entire lifespan. Charlotte was my first and her possible descendant, Joy, was my second.

I consider 2014 to be the year of grasshoppers. It was almost a plague. Abby enjoyed hunting them. As for 2015, it was the year of garden spiders.

This is a spot on the back side of the garage. Six egg sacs, from at least four different garden spiders, are in view. What you do not see are two egg sacs way up high near the roof and one down below near the end of the gutter spout. That makes a total of nine egg sacs in this area alone.

In addition to this nine, we have two more on another side of the garage facing our back door. We also have a total of 17 all scattered on the backside of our house, underneath the patio roof, and on the backside of the A/C units. We also have two in a Crepe Myrtle tree and one in a Rosemary bush that I refused to pull up after the spiders were gone because this egg sac existed. I will pull it up in the spring after the spiderlings emerge.

Abby spied two garden spiders on one side of the house early in the (past) summer and tried to get one. Of course, I stopped her. I did not observe these spiders as much; but, during the inventory count, I discovered they left behind four egg sacs.

If I counted correctly, the garden spiders left behind a total of 35 viable egg sacs this summer. And, this does not count the ones out front or along the fence line.

Lord have mercy!

In addition to the perfectly made egg sacs, I observed a spider that was idiotic. She attempted to make an egg sac on a window screen! Not once; but, twice! The above picture was taken on August 31, 2015 and there she is on the top left (newest) mess. I figured this was the end of her life as they usually lay two sacs in their lifetime; but, a few do lay three (or more). I kept an eye on her and much to my surprise, she returned to her usual spot and spun a new web.

I have to confess that it was fascinating to see what goes into an egg sac. I went to the other side of the window and used My macro lens which showed exactly what was what. Over a few days, I observed a few turn into spiderlings. But, of course, they did not have a chance. The tiny little eggs were exposed to the elements and many were consumed by pests.

On the morning of September 11, 2015, I discovered the garden spider FINALLY got it right. She laid her third egg sac beside the window. You can see her resting and protecting the sac on the top left of picture. She was not long for this world though as she used up all her energy creating the sac.

By the way, It is going to be fun cleaning up the mess she left behind on the window screen. NOT!

Pictorial Monday {Joy}

I did not follow the life of Joy like I did with Charlotte, her possible ancestor. However, I did capture a few moments of her life which seemed mighty short compared to Charlotte’s life.

May 25, 2015

She began to move from her original spot. It had rained and rained and I guess she was tired of getting “drowned”. So, she moved over a period of two or three days to a newer and better spot about five feet away.

June 7, 2015

June 12, 2015

Sometime between May 27 and June 12, a male joined her on her web. She molted again on June 12 and the male took advantage of her.

Not long afterwards (approximately an hour later), I discovered that either she killed the male or he died naturally. And, she feasted on her exoskeleton.

July 14, 2015

July 14, 2015

July 14, 2015

Like Charlotte, she became enormous. Unlike Charlotte, she did not live a long life.

She moved a short distance away and proceeded to lay an egg sac near the end of July. She rested for a full day and disappeared. Joy only had one egg sac compared to Charlotte’s two and possible three sacs.

The Life of Charlotte

One day early back in the spring time, a garden spider showed up near our back door and decided to make her home.

When it was determined that she was there to stay, we named her Charlotte after a fictional character in a book called Charlotte's Web.

She soon attracted male spiders.

And, she made beautiful signatures on rare occasions.

I noticed she did most of her rebuilding of her web in the night.

And, she grew.

I felt privileged to have witnessed the next event. She molted.

{Note: this is not my garden spider; but, that of another nearby. You can see the exoskeleton on the right.}

It was one gruesome event to witness. I did not think to grab my camera as I honestly thought she was dying; but, it turned out that she just grew rapidly and needed out of her exoskeleton. In the course of research, the males provides protection while the female molts. I learned something new.

And, she feasted. And, grew.

The males cautiously got closer. She had three altogether at one point.

And one by one, the males disappeared until only one was left.

He got lucky.

And, she was kind to him as he lived out the rest of his life (two days) on her web.

She grew enormous.

She soon made her first egg sac.

{She was putting on the finishing touches early in the morning and soon went back to her web.}

She laid a total of two egg sacs.

On September 17th, not long after she laid her second egg sac, I discovered she packed up her web and moved.

And, I knew.

Like Charlotte of Charlotte's Web, She was dying.

In my heart of hearts, I wanted to know what happened to her. So, I looked.

I found her temporarily ensconced underneath a pad used for gardening and over a bucket.

And, she moved overnight to her final resting place and spun her last beautiful web.

She was located between the end of our farm table and several pallets.

She died in peace on September 21st. She lived a full life.

And, hopefully the cycle of life will begin anew early next spring via her eggs.

I am so thankful for her bravery (she put up with us) and the privilege of observing her life. I have learned so much about spiders through her.