A Spider Lesson Today!

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Today we will have a look inside one of these strange balls hanging in a tree and it was our first time to see it.

Happy Friday to all and no, it's not a ball, it is a spider sac!

Not any spider I must say, but rather the Famous "Cape Rain Spider" (Palystes castaneus), only found in the Southern hemisphere and in this case South Africa.
Some of the Aussies might know these rain spider sacks, as they also have them in Australia, albeit in a different shape.
Come and have a look.

We visited a dam and as we strolled around, we saw this strange sight.
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Here was one that was laying below a tree and the wind, or birds or something must have dislodged it.
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Loose leaves were stuck on the section where it was laying and it was open on the one side.
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A carefully woven sac that seemed weatherproof.
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So, I flipped it over on a plank and had a look inside and was surprised.
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There were small spiders inside and at this stage we did not know what it was.
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Hundreds of the little things crawling all over.
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Here's one that crawled out onto the plank, but I put him gently back inside, closed the nest and Marian put it back below the tree.
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This was another one and you can see that some animal, insect, or bird already made a hole in it. Or, we think, that some have already bitten their way out. We did not touch it.
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Here is some stunning information about these spiders;

The common rain spider (Palystes superciliosus), formerly P. natalius, is a species of huntsman spider native to Southern Africa. It is the most common and widespread species in the genus Palystes. Its distribution ranges from KwaZulu-Natal province in the east, then westwards to the provinces of Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng and North West in the north, and Eastern Cape and Western Cape in the south. It has a body length of 15–36 mm and a leg span of up to 110mm. The species was first described by Ludwig Carl Christian Koch in 1875.

Imagine those tiny little things having a leg span of 110 millimeters when they are grown. A size like a saucer.

But how do the spiderlings get out of the silk sac?

After mating in the early summer, the female constructs a round egg sac about 60–100 mm in size made of silk, with twigs and leaves woven into it. These egg sacs are commonly seen from about November to April. The female constructs the sac over 3–5 hours, then aggressively guards it until the spiderlings, who hatch inside the protective sac, chew their way out about three weeks later. Females will construct about three of these egg sacs over their two-year lives. Many gardeners are bitten by protective Palystes mothers during this period.
Source

And that's All Friends!

Note: All photos are my own and taken with a Canon Powershot SX60HS Bridge camera.

We hope that you have enjoyed the pictures and thank you for supporting a post by @papilloncharity



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28 comments
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I think most of our spiders are as big or better said as small as the baby spiders you show here, Zac.
I don't mind spiders at all - they eat other annoying insects, and ours don't bite as bad as yours do 😉


Cheers and !BEER
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Oh yeah, we are blessed with many spiders here Hannes and between them and the dragonflies, they also keep the mosquitos under control.
A big Ghekko was in our bathroom last night doing his thing and Marian has a nice Daddy Longlegs spider behind the toilet.

People just don't realize what a benefit spiders can be my friend.

Cheers and thanks.

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We have seldom bigger insects or even animals like lizards inside, although I would love if we had Ghekkos around 😀
Sometimes a bat flies through an open window inside and we have to help it out again 🦇


Cheers and !BEER
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Yeah, the little ghekkos are a pleasure to have around.
A hilarious experience is that we had dinner in wooden hut and a ghekko dropped off the roof into the dinner plate of the Eskom inspector. He almost broke his chair falling over backwards in fright 🤣

Yeah, I love bats and look at this:
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When these fruits turn ripe and yellow, the giant fruit bats will come.
I have cut all of the dangling branches on the high palm tree off to expose the fruits.
In the meantime I have perfected my night camera settings and we are going to have a party when they come.

Cheers and thanks!

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I would also be scared when something falls on my meal, but then I would love it and forget to eat, I believe :)

I'm looking forward to the photos of the bats 😁


Cheers and !BEER
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Hahaha, yah I know that you will be like me and run to get your camera 🤣
Those days I had no camera lol.

Hopefully it will all transpire soon my friend and I cast a beady eye on the fruits every day.
Luckily it seems that squirrels have stopped to eat the green fruits, as it must have given them diarrhea 🤣

Cheers and thanks!

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My mother has taught us to not eat green fruits, maybe the little squirrels didn't believe their mum and wanted to try it themselves - now they know 🤣


Cheers and !BEER
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Hahaha, isn't that so true, as we all learn from our experiences, so I will keep a lookout for little squirrels running around with red faces resulting from all of the pushing 🤣

Cheers and thanks!

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Extremely neat nesting for the young, we have had an abundance of spiders around the home this year must be all the rain.

Fascinating you found with the young still inside scrambling around.

Excellent find with photography, last time I saw rain spiders was in Grahamstown coming down from ceiling many years ago, they grow pretty big 🙂

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Oh yes, we have a few here at home as well and I posted a big one last year.
The rain is definitely enhancing their increased numbers.

The nests were certainly a great find and as we got home I Googled and was surprised to find that the mother remains with the nest to guard it. They stated that many gardeners were bitten by mothers guarding their nests. So I think that I was lucky that the mother was not around.
Image holding that nest and the mother jumps on your neck from the tree?

And so, we will go back there and I will see if I can get a mother near one of the nests on camera.

Blessings and !BEER

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Watch what you doing always put caution before inquisitiveness 🤣

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My mom's famous words now repeated on Hive.
I am abashed Lady Joan.

Blessings and !WINE

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Mothers always know best, do we listen?

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Hahaha, oh yeah, we listen many years later and normally in tears 🤣

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