Ball of Spiders

These are newly hatched spiderlings that I found on my rose bush this afternoon. They are the young of the Garden or Cross Spider, Araneus diadematus, which still have a yolk sac reserve at this point and won't need to eat for a few days.

They all huddle in a ball but are quick to disperse if they're disturbed, each one with it's own silk thread. How many there are can only be a guess but, I've been reliably informed that if you count the legs and divide by eight you can get a precise number.

It's only minutes until their instinct makes them huddle together again, although they do split up a bit and become a few balls rather than one. When their yolk is completely absorbed they will start to become aggressive towards one another and start to disperse, ballooning away on their silk threads, to start their independent lives.

This ball is quite small, the sze of a twopence piece, as I'd made them scarper a few times, before deciding to get out the 65mm macro lens. It's about time it had an outing. Have a peak at the link and tell me which was the one I should have blipped.

I'm all spidered out!

What a gorgeous day, now off to walk the dogs in the bluebells. Maybe I should blip them before it's too late!