Spiderlings

Spiderlings are baby spider as tiny as can be, laid eggs many more inside silken sac.Spiders spin a silk sac in which to lay their eggs. Spiders that hunt, like wolf spiders and jumping spiders, lay eggs that hatch in fall. A spider can lay hundreds of tiny eggs at one time. They may lay more than one sac, with each sac holding several hundred eggs.

It can take a few weeks before the eggs hatch. Egg sacs of some kinds of spiders don’t hatch until the spring. When the young spiderlings hatch, they stay in the sac until after their fi rst molt. Molting is when a spider sheds its skin, called an exoskeleton. As it grows, a spiderling will molt four to twelve times until it is an adult, usually in a year.

When spiderlings leave the egg sac, they may stay clustered together for awhile. Then they must move away to find food. So many spiders cannot stay in one spot if there is to be enough food for all. Some spiderlings will walk to a new place. Other spiderlings “balloon.” When a young spider balloons, it points its abdomen in the air and sends out a long thread of very fine silk, called gossamer.Wind catches the light thread and carries the spider away. Spiderlings have been known to travel long distances doing this, although most don’t go far. You may have seen the grass or plants covered with a thin layer of fine silk thread when thousands of spiderlings balloon at the same time.

Life Cycle: Spiders lay eggs within a silken egg sac that is often ball-shaped and either hidden in the web or carried by the female. Spiders may produce several egg sacs, each containing several hundred eggs. One female may produce as many as 3,000 eggs in a series of several sacs over a period of time. Eggs may hatch a few weeks later. Spiders reach adulthood in one year. For a spider to grow, it must shed its skin (molt) usually four to twelve times before maturity. Most spiders live either one to two seasons. Spiders may overwinter as eggs, spiderlings in the egg sac, immature spiders living outside the egg sac or as adults.

Water: Humidity is important for a spiderling’s survival.  Spiderlings are too tiny to drink out of a water dish and so get their refreshment from sucking moisture out of damp substrate.  Also, they will be molting frequently and the extra moisture they absorb into their bodies will help them while shedding.  Even the babies of desertspecies need humidity, so it is important to lightly mist the substrate of their homes often.

Houses and Food: Most baby tarantulas look nothing like their parents, save for the same number of legs.  They are tiny, fragile things that need somewhat different arrangements if they are to survive.  Of primary importance is recognizing that spiderlings are indeed babies. They need to eat. . . and eat a lot.  What’s most important is that your spiderling needs to be able to find its food easily.

controls: Sanitation is critical in successful spider control. Indoors, the spiders, webs and egg sacs can be collected and destroyed with a strong suction vacuum cleaner. Move and dust often behind and under furniture, stored materials, wall hangings and corners of ceilings. Eliminate other household pests (prey) such as flies, ants and pantry pests, which attract spiders. Be sure to control excess moisture and humidity, keeping basements, crawl spaces, porches, etc., as dry as possible. Outdoors, clean up woodpiles, trash, rocks, compost piles, old boards and other debris around the house foundation where spiders often live.

Be sure to seal or caulk cracks and crevices around windows and doors and install tight-fitting screens as needed where spiders can enter the house. Use a hose with high-pressure water on the outside of the house to knock down and destroy webs, egg sacs and spiders. Use yellow or sodium vapor light bulbs at outside entrances to reduce night-flying insects (prey) which attract spiders.

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