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green lynx spider, peucetia viridans and her spiderlings, the next generation!

Judith Browning

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Not sure what she caught this time...maybe a news bee, sorry to say

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Judith Browning

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
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"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

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In the rain...she looked as though she was trying to cover them and then when I started taking pictures she moved between them and me!

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

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"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Nancy Reading

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lovely photos Judith! The babies are certainly getting bigger.

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Judith Browning

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Nancy Reading wrote:lovely photos Judith! The babies are certainly getting bigger.

Thank you Nancy! Someday I'll edit the whole thread for redundant photos and do more labeling.
I'm trying to only post pictures when I notice changes so they might only be apparent to me.

We think the tiny white shape to the left in a few pictures is a shed skin?
At first thought it a critter carcass of some sort but leaning towards a shedding now.

Steve discovered something interesting yesterday...all along we noticed they stop all movement when we come near, except mom sometimes moves into position to protect them.
Steve got close enough to deliberately breath on them and they scattered a bit and then returned to position...he did it twice with the same results.
The carbon dioxide (or the warmth?) must be the cause as they've been immobile in a lot of wind out there.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Jay Angler

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How's your poor plant doing, Judith? The nest is getting larger and larger and folding in a lot of leaves. Are the dead leaves simply season-appropriate die-back?

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Judith Browning

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Jay Angler wrote:How's your poor plant doing, Judith? The nest is getting larger and larger and folding in a lot of leaves. Are the dead leaves simply season-appropriate die-back?

It's an elderflower so will survive ok...it's one of several cuttings I took from elsewhere here where the patch just wasn't thriving. This one has seemed happy in this spot. We've wondered if her home building has caused more than normal leaves to die but I think they are doing that equally over the rest of the bush.

I really expected them to all be dispersed by now, hibernating or something, and this thread paused until I spot one somewhere in the spring.
Four pages of pictures might be getting a bit much

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Pearl Sutton

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Four pages of pictures might be getting a bit much

I disagree!
That is awesome cool! I haven't had time to watch it all, I just read the whole thread.

She's an fantastic mama spider. I don't think most spiders are that good, are they?

I have wondered when I see spiders around how it all works, and never had time to research it, or watch them. I'm glad you watch and document for those of us who don't manage to.
Keep up the saga, it's fascinating!
:D

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Judith Browning

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Thank you Pearl!
I didn't expect her to be that motherly either...have never witnessed it before...she has been running the show for two months now with no apparent fear of me and my camera.

Today some of the babies seem more independent, spreading out to other leaves.

I'm interested in how carefully she has pulled leaves in with silk and shaped this shelter...and if the leaves will make it as long as the spiderlings need them without crumbling? And how much longer will she be around?

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Carla Burke

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I'm with Pearl! I LOVE all the photos! In fact, you've done such an excellent job of photo-documentation, I think it would be amazingly wonderful if you compiled them all into a book for kids, nature lovers, arachnophiles, etc. (Yet another way to earn a living on our homesteads, y'all!)

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Jay Angler

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Carla Burke wrote:In fact, you've done such an excellent job of photo-documentation, I think it would be amazingly wonderful if you compiled them all into a book for kids, nature lovers, arachnophiles, etc.

My friend who has been following this thread when she comes to visit, said exactly the same thing. You up to being an author, Judith?

I think many people are "scared" of spiders, and a book like that might be very reassuring. The fact that you can state that this is a "spitting" spider, and you never got spat at, is proof to me that we can coexist with creatures and celebrate their place in the ecosystem!

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Judith Browning

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Thanks for the encouragement carla and jay!

....not sure I'm the one for the job of putting a book together but I love trying to figure out 'how to' things so will give it some thought...an ebook format makes it seem possible.

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

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Yesterday in the rain...

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

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Today in the wind...

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

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She was on a much lower branch of the elderflower today...three feet below the egg case and spiderlings.....seems like there are fewer spiderlings than the past few days...maybe all don't survive?

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Jay Angler

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Judith Browning wrote:...seems like there are fewer spiderlings the past few days...maybe all don't survive?

Likely they don't, but is it also possible that they're starting to go off on their own in search of food or spots to hibernate?

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Judith Browning

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Jay Angler wrote:

Judith Browning wrote:...seems like there are fewer spiderlings the past few days...maybe all don't survive?

Likely they don't, but is it also possible that they're starting to go off on their own in search of food or spots to hibernate?

I looked and looked to see if the young ones were elsewhere, venturing further from the pod.. Didn't see any but I could have easily missed them.

At one point Steve thought he got a good estimate of around a hundred. It's hard to tell as some are under leaves and maybe they still go inside the egg case?

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

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She was gone again today and Steve found her even farther from the young ones. By the time I got back with the camera she was gone again.

I keep remembering what Tereza said about her not living past raising/training the brood so maybe we're there....or she just needs a break from all those kids

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
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"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Tereza Okava

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i wonder if she's also encouraging them to start wandering off. You figure by now some of them might not have eaten anything yet, maybe that's why the numbers are down. If they want to eat, they need to start spreading out.
The stuff I read wasn't clear about exactly how cold-hardy they are, and I'm not sure if you're already getting ready for snow and wind (here we're just rolling into warm spring, last week it was above 90F...), but she may be on her last legs indeed.
Great work, mama spider!!

(I love this thread. I am another arachnophobe, with some exceptions, like daddy longlegs and other non-obvious spiders, as well as jumping spiders, which I really like and will happily carry around and talk to. But here I am looking at a spider that in the past has scared the potatoes out of my ears, and thinking sweet thoughts for her.)

Judith Browning

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No sign of her today...

Tereza, we probably won't have snow till later in the winter but temps have been dropping to freezing most nights and we're expecting low 20's F next week...they seem to be ok in cold rain but snow or ice surely would send them hibernating?

Interesting she chose a shrub that held it's leaves later than others in the area and ones that could be shaped into such a cool shelter...the hazelnut she laid the egg case on originally has lost all leaves.

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May Lotito

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I am wondering what their food source would be in the winter? If they eat rolly polly there are plenty of them still active under the leaves and twigs. Maybe the spiders will seek somewhere warmer close to the ground?

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

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Judith Browning

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May Lotito wrote:I am wondering what their food source would be in the winter? If they eat rolly polly there are plenty of them still active under the leaves and twigs. Maybe the spiders will seek somewhere warmer close to the ground?

I don't remember rolly polly's on the list but wouldn't that be wonderful!
Otherwise I'm not sure what they would eat over the winter here? We have warm ups where even some honeybees are out but I think these little ones won't be big enough for much unless it's tiny things down in the leaf mulch.

Nobody out today but it looks to me like they can get in the eggcase through some openings and I see a few in the area now....no sign of mama spider.

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

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Yesterday's photos....the young are all huddled up and no sign of the mom.

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

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And there's supper, staring them down from the right in the second picture...seems too big for them but maybe they can attack as a group?

When I saw the grasshopper I thought maybe mom was back so looked and looked for her...no luck.

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Tereza Okava

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Judith Browning wrote:.... but maybe they can attack as a group?

If spiders can attack as a group, i'm not sure i will ever be able to sleep at night again...... I'll be up blinking and thinking of the possibilities..... the geckos in my house take care of individual spiders, but if a group of hooligans shows up i'm screwed!

i would think that the wee spiders might not have enough strength or big enough mouth parts to take down something so much larger than them/penetrate its carapace. i think til they get larger they're limited to what is a bit smaller and softer.

Judith Browning

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Oh Tereza...that was an absolutely false rumor that the spiders might group up...no 'lord of the flies' behavior observed here

A few of them were out sunning today but most were tucked away within their shelter.

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

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"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Nancy Reading

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I'm sorry the mother seems to be gone, but I suppose that ios life (and death). I hope the babies aren't fewer because they are eating each other. Is that a possibility?

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Samantha Hall

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Sorry, I wrote this before I realized that I needed to press 1,2,3 to get to the rest of the thread.

Thank you for an amazing document of this family of spiders! Someone should definitely put this in book form.

Did the babies come out of the egg sac? I’m in tototal suspense here. This is my favorite thread of all time about the Linx spider!!!

Judith Browning

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Nancy, we wondered that same thing...maybe that's the reason for such a huge number of eggs?

Hi Samantha

Thank you!
I'm happy to hear you've enjoyed it...when I started this thread I didn't realize where it would lead and for how long.
I'm going to miss them when they finally hibernate.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

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