Who might these belong to?

The thread they are hanging off is from a Golden Silk Spider's web, but she's been gone for a week or so. The hanging things are approx 3/4 " long including the pod and the little thread.

Those are egg cases. Spiderlings will come forth, hopefully, at a given time to repopulate the area. Many will die before they get to be adults.

But they are egg sacs of the Quicksilver spider. See this: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm1.static.flickr.com/199/444554595_008f6ff74d.jpg%3Fv%3D0&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuarthumphreys/444554595/&usg=__PJ4TENCOs4m5JAw_NHPRIRRe0yY=&h=330&w=500&sz=54&hl=en&start=17&sig2=5KZW3gFuW85PHD4gtzWVew&um=1&tbnid=jdF_2fJWvBK9XM:&tbnh=86&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dorb%2Bweaver%2Begg%2Bsac%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1&ei=7w_VSuy1N6CQtAPd4KXDCg

Wait! You're in Florida. That is a photo of quicksilver egg cases, but I don't think they live in Florida.

Be right back...

This message was edited Oct 13, 2009 6:56 PM

Well - maybe not "right" back...

Are you in Florida?

Yes, north FL, out in the boonies, about 40 mi. south of Tallahassee.

I figured they were egg sacs but I wasn't sure if they were from a spider or not.

I'm not familiar with that quicksilver spider and I'm trying to read more about them right now.

Interesting how they take over the web. There was another spider in there with the big Silk Spider last month. She was eating a bee and he kept charging at her, like he was trying to steal it, she finally dropped it. I thought maybe it was a male spider. I found a picture I took of them.

I was very surprised to see her gone from the web one morning. There was a big hole in the middle of it, I thought maybe a bird had got her. Maybe it was some kind of thief spider.

Not seeing many of this type egg sac on the internet, but will keep looking, I'm not real familiar with the spider sites. Thanks for your help so far.

Everything I find puts them in Australia. But then I located this on Bug Guide - in Florida.
http://bugguide.net/node/view/223245 Still, I am curious why we don't have more info on it. Also called the dew-drop spider. Maybe that is a local name (as in USA)

Yes, that is the male Golden Orb Weaver. He tries to mate while the female is distracted - so he doesn't become food. Much smaller than the female, you can see the enlarged pedipalps of the male spider - where his mouth is.

Her web looks to be a mess. And the thief, aka pirate, aka quicksilver, aka dew-drop spider could very well be responsible for it.

Have you seen the video?

Oh my. I was searching for the wrong species. Just google the genus Argyrodes and you'll get lots of information. Here's another from bug guide http://bugguide.net/node/view/39666/bgimage?from=0
and another http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=argyrodes&search=Search

This is the photo of the egg case. http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuarthumphreys/444554595/

Well, I feel lots better now! Whew...

BTW, excellent photos. Maybe you could put them in BugFiles?

This message was edited Oct 13, 2009 11:55 PM

Ceejaytown, thank you so much for your help! I appreciate the links. I've really enjoyed learning about this little spider. Yes, I saw the video! Absolutely fascinating. That is really cool.

I've been watching the area but I've still not seen the spider, itself. But as small as it is it may be there and I'm just not seeing it. I was reading about someone who didn't realize it was there until they saw a tiny reflection on a picture they took.

I couldn't find a lot of info on it's habits. I wonder do they tend the egg cases or will they come back when the babies hatch? Does it have a web of it's own somewhere else? Does it also steal other spiders food or just the Golden Orb's? Will the spiderlings hatch before winter, I wonder how long it takes. I'm curious, now.

I would be happy to add the pics to the Bugfiles. I may have some others too. I'm out in the country so I see lots of different 'critters', and sometimes I can get a fairly clear picture with my little point and shoot, but I do long for more macro...

That Bugguide is a great place!
Here's an interesting discussion having to do with these spiders (and great pictures) I ran across, while I was looking around there.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/316493

Thanks for that interesting link! Very interesting behavior. There is so much to learn.

I, too, have become very interested in this spider. I've read that it (or perhaps same genus, different species - I'll have to check that out) can be found in various orb weavers webs. I don't think they tend their egg sacs.

You can be our scientific observer and let us know what you see. I would be so pleased to have your updates.

I'm going to tag this thread so I don't lose it. Hope to hear from you as things progress.