Today the eggs hatched but only a handful of tiny spiderlings emerged from the egg sac. The reason for this was because an invader had also been occupying the egg sac - a mantispid. Mantispids are mantis-like Neuropterans and some species select spider eggs as food while they are in larval form. Mantispids use two strategies to access spider eggs; some larvae find an egg sac and burrow in through the silk, while other species hitch-hike upon the female spider and enter the egg sac as it is being constructed. We are not sure which strategy this particular species used, but it was successful.
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The mantispid shortly after emerging from the egg sac. |
Beaut photo of a mantispid.
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