Spiderling Watch!
We’re excited to be starting a new tradition here: Spiderling Watch.
A female Black & Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope sp.) has made her home at our back door for the past few months, laying multiple large egg sacs. These sacs are filled with thousands of baby spiders (“spiderlings”) which will grow throughout the winter and then hatch in the spring. Some of the spiderlings will stay nearby, while others will release a small amount of spiderweb and allow the wind to carry them away. (This process is called “ballooning.”) You can see the female spider at left and the egg sacs to the right – the sacs are each about the size of a pecan.
Follow #SpiderlingWatch to get the latest on the life cycle of this spider and her offspring as we go from fall to spring. Follow our Facebook page and Twitter for updates as they come! We’ll post periodically about the status of the eggs and the mother spider, always accompanied by cool facts about these beautiful creatures.
Join us on the Spiderling Watch!
A female yellow garden spider (Argiope sp.). She has built her web at the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance office for the past several months.
The spider egg sacs. Each egg sac contains thousands of eggs, wrapped in a protective web of spidersilk. Each sac is about the size of a pecan.
Arabia Mountain
Dominated by two granite outcrops, the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area offers natural wonders, compelling history and heart-pumping activity. This nationally significant landscape includes vibrant history, breathtaking beauty and intriguing cultural changes from early settlers to immigrant rock cutters, Trappist monks and one of the oldest African-American communities in Georgia.
