This is something I haven't seen in my last few years of observing the fishing spiders - a mother carrying her babies. We don't usually think of spiders as having motherly instincts but these ones do.
The funny part is that I took this photo a few days ago, thinking it was some new kind of spider. I couldn't see it very well (eyesight not what it used to be) but I could tell it didn't have the shape or coloring of a fishing spider. I snapped a few photos and moved on. It wasn't till today, looking at it on the computer, that I realized what it was.
I haven't had as much luck this year spotting fishing spiders. The layout of the water plants is a bit different and the koi have gotten very large and have been foraging in the shallows, sending the spiders into hiding.
I didn't spot any mothers carrying their egg sacs this year. But I have spotted a few nursery webs that the mothers build to protect the hatching spiders. One of the nursery webs had an adult beside it, presumably the mother "guarding" it. (I attempted photographs but she ran away.)
The funny part is that I took this photo a few days ago, thinking it was some new kind of spider. I couldn't see it very well (eyesight not what it used to be) but I could tell it didn't have the shape or coloring of a fishing spider. I snapped a few photos and moved on. It wasn't till today, looking at it on the computer, that I realized what it was.
I haven't had as much luck this year spotting fishing spiders. The layout of the water plants is a bit different and the koi have gotten very large and have been foraging in the shallows, sending the spiders into hiding.
I didn't spot any mothers carrying their egg sacs this year. But I have spotted a few nursery webs that the mothers build to protect the hatching spiders. One of the nursery webs had an adult beside it, presumably the mother "guarding" it. (I attempted photographs but she ran away.)
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