Mysterious Orb

When I'm outdoors I always keep my eyes open for potential blog material. I work on being as observant as possible exploring every sound, every object at my feet, in the trees, in the water and in the air. Being this way has paid off time after time, leading me to discovering some particular feature of the vast thing we call nature.

Several days ago I was buttoning up our camp, preparing to leave when my eye caught an object on the ground. I think it was actually the color of the object that got my attention. It was a little bit smaller than a marble and was the color of patina. I picked it up and noticed that it was covered with tiny holes, as if something had chewed on it.

It looked really familiar to me and moments later I knew what I held in my hand- the egg sac of a wolf spider. Not long ago I had posted a blog entry about a wolf spider I had come across that was carrying one of these. Some spiders attach them to their web, but wolf spiders, which do not spin webs, carry their eggs sacs with them. The female lays hundreds of eggs, encases them in a round silk case, and then attaches it to her spinnerets . She will then carry it until, somehow, she knows they are ready to exit the silken incubating orb. Maybe she feels them moving inside.......

She will then chew holes in the egg sac allowing her offspring to escape. Once the spiderlings exit they immediately climb upon their mother's back where they will stay until their first molt.