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Empty silken case of a spider (spider sac), Alice Springs NT

Spider sac

Spiders > Index of Spider Images | Spiders in Australia | Spiders Index | Spider sac

Spiders reproduce by laying eggs in sacs, which the female (depending on the species) will either carry the egg sac around (protecting it) or place it in a web (usually close by or hidden in foliage.

Wolf Spider (Venatrix arenaris), Simpsons Gap, NT
Wolf Spider (Venatrix arenaris), Simpsons Gap, NT

The egg sac can be round in shape (such as seen with the Redback Spider, Latrodectus hasselti and the Australian Golden Orb Weaver Spider, Trichonephila edulis).

Female Redback Spider (Latrodectus hasselti) with egg sac, Alice Springs NT
Female Redback Spider (Latrodectus hasselti) with egg sac, Alice Springs NT
Egg sac of the Australian Golden Orb Weaver Spider (Trichonephila edulis), Alice Springs NT
Egg sac of the Australian Golden Orb Weaver Spider (Trichonephila edulis), Alice Springs NT

The Celaenia excavata spider makes ball shaped egg sacs, approximately 10 mm in diameter, with the eggs sacs loosely held together by webbing.

Celaenia excavata (Common Bird-dropping Spider), Stirling Range National Park WA © Julie Schofield
Celaenia excavata (Common Bird-dropping Spider), Stirling Range National Park WA © Julie Schofield

The Long-tailed St. Andrews Cross Spider (Argiope protensa) egg sac is parcel shape.

Long-tailed St. Andrews Cross Spider (Argiope protensa), Alice Springs, NT
Long-tailed St. Andrews Cross Spider (Argiope protensa), Alice Springs, NT

The Desert Huntsman Spiders (Isopedella inola) egg sac is flat-shape, like a pillow.

Desert Huntsman (Isopedella inola) with egg sac, Alice Springs Desert Park NT
Desert Huntsman (Isopedella inola) with egg sac, Alice Springs Desert Park NT

The following cave spider egg sac is tear-shaped / pear-shaped.

Cave spider sac, Tasmania
Cave spider sac, that normally contains the spiders eggs, that require the spider to create a hole in the sac for the young spiders to get out, Baldocks Cave, Tasmania

Once the spiderlings hatch and emerge from the egg sac, the silken case is discarded. The discarded egg sac pictured, is thought to belong to a huntsman spider, possibly the Desert Huntsman (Isopedella inola), as one was seen living within the vicinity of the egg sac.

Empty silken case of a spider (spider sac), Alice Springs NT
Empty silken case of a spider (spider sac), Alice Springs NT
Empty silken case of a spider (spider sac), Alice Springs NT
Empty silken case of a spider (spider sac), Alice Springs NT

Some species of spiders carry their young spiderlings around on their backs.

Wolf Spider with her young emerging from her egg sac, Woy Woy Bay NSW © Michael Doe
Wolf Spider with her young, Woy Woy Bay NSW © Michael Doe

SpidersIndex of Spider Images Spiders in Australia Spiders Index Araneidae — Orb Weavers Spider sac Arkys Australian Huntsman Spider Barking Spider Black House Spider Carepalxis sp Celaenia sp Cosmophasis micarioides Crab Spiders Deinopidae — Net-casting Spiders Dolomedes sp Dolophones sp Euryopis Flower Spiders Gnaphosidae (Stealthy Ground Spider) Hackled Orbweavers (Uloboridae) Helpis minitabunda (Bronze Hopper) Herennia sp Jewel Spider Jumping Spider Long Jawed Spider (Tetragnatha sp) Lynx Spider (Oxyopes) Mangrovia albida Maratus Missulena occatoria (Red-headed Mouse Spider) Molycria burwelli Mopsus mormon Nicodamidae (Red and Black Spider) Nyssus coloripes (Orange-legged Swift Spider) Ogre-faced Net-casting Spider Poltys sp (Twig Spider) Scorpion-tailed Spider (Arachnura higginsi) Redback Spider Miturgidae Salticidae Tetragnatha Thomisidae Tiger Spider (Trichonephila plumipes) White-spotted Swift Spider (Nyssus albopunctatus) Wolf Spider

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