A week ago, after collecting leaf litter for my isopods, I found some weird fuzzy thing on one of the leaves. So naturally I started to poke at and dissect it. And then spiders came out. And I realized it was a spider egg sac! @huttonia on iNaturalist identified them as orbweavers (araneidae).
I thought this would be a cool opportunity to raise some slings, and then when they grow up they can be identified further. Yesterday, they came out of the egg sac and started making webs.
They’re so tiny and cute! What a fun little surprise. Those pictures with the microscope are awesome! Love the one with the “giant” fruit fly. They do look like some sort of orb weaver to me, though I’m hardly an expert. I’m sure they’ll be easier to identify once they get a little bigger.
I hope you’ll keep us posted on this project and share more pictures as they grow! I just love baby spiders, and orb weavers have always been a favourite of mine.
My little cups arrived yesterday so I separated them in a process that took probably 2.5 hours (including poking air holes). Final count is 71 babies. 5 got eaten, and at least one escaped during separation.
What a fun little surprise. Those pictures with the microscope are awesome! Love the one with the “giant” fruit fly. 
