The Life Cycle of Spiders
- Spider eggs are laid within a protective silk egg sac; the number of eggs per sac varies widely by species.
- Eggs hatch in about two weeks and the first instar spiderlings remain within the sac until undergoing their first molt.
- Approximately one month after the eggs are laid, the second instar spiderlings emerge, many by chewing through the sac wall.
- Spiderlings disperse through a variety of mechanisms, including clinging to their mother’s abdomen or “ballooning” to new destinations.
- Most spiders go through several molts before reaching maturity, living one or two years, depending on the species.
- Spiders can live from one to twenty years.
Did you know all spiders produce silk, they can’t close their eyes because they don’t have eyelids, they eat more insects than both birds and bats, females can lay up to 3,000 eggs at a time, and centuries ago people would put webs on wounds to stop bleeding? Since then scientist have found that webs contain vitamin K.
