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Spiderlings
Spiders are often prolific. Although most produce no more than 100 and some lay only two eggs at a time, others lay as many as 3,000. The eggs are deposited in masses, each protected with a strong silk coating or egg sac, which many spider mothers tie to a secure mooring and then die, leaving the young to fend for themselves. In contrast, other females such as the attentive
pisaurids, carry their egg sacs with them until the young are ready to hatch. They then weave a nursery web and guard the tiny offspring until they are old enough to live by themselves. Another great mother is the wolf spider. She drags her egg sac behind her as she hunts for food. Once the eggs hatch, the young cluster on her back (below) until they are about a week old.
Most spiderlings launch themselves out into the world by "ballooning." The youngster climbs to the top of a twig or fence post, faces the wind and unreels a thread of silk, which is picked up by air currents. As the line gets longer, the wind lifts the spider off its perch, and the creature then drifts off like a kite.
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