How spiders reproduce - the female spider kills the male. Little spiders. Birth and growing up How spiders reproduce

Spider breeding

Today, more and more often, our compatriots have exotic pets in their homes and, moreover, decide not only to take care of them, but also to breed them. But, as you yourself understand, if the features of its content are one thing (not a very complicated science that requires you, first of all, desire and skills), then breeding spiders is a completely different, more complex and responsible task. . If you are not afraid of difficulties, and have set yourself such a goal as breeding spiders (quite a profitable occupation, by the way), you have the strength and desire, and time and opportunity, then our publication will help you, which we decided to devote to questions breeding spiders at home. So, stock up on patience and attention - today you will learn a lot of useful and interesting information, and how you learn it will depend on whether you can breed spiders in your terrarium or not ...

Physiology of house spiders

In fact, the physiology, and indeed the biology of reproduction of domestic spiders, are topics that have been little studied. There are general data, based on which we can draw some conclusions. So, for example, young spiders, regardless of their gender, lead a similar lifestyle, and it is almost impossible to distinguish them by behavior. True, a hint to the owner of the spiders and the answer to the question - where is the female spider and where is the male - is appearance such an exotic pet. So,

sexually mature males, as a rule, always have a bright color, proportional and elongated legs, a special arrangement of pedipalps, and are distinguished by great mobility.

By the way, puberty they come earlier than females, which look somewhat gray against the background of such bright "men", behave awkwardly, and are distinguished by inactivity. For male spiders, this is 1.5 years, for females, this period of puberty occurs when she is 2-3 years old.

Such a time gap in matters of puberty excludes the possibility of inbreeding.

Features of the behavior of male spiders

Before mating begins, a mature male spider begins to weave a special web, which has a 3- or 4-angled shape. On the underside of such a web, he releases a drop of inseminating fluid. After such a “network” in every sense of the word is ready, the male proceeds to search for a female. His behavior becomes overly active, he moves around the terrarium day and night ...

In nature, during this period, male spiders can even cover a distance of 9 kilometers per night in order to find a female.

The spider is looking for a "lady of the heart" interesting way – using only the organs of touch. He follows the trail of the female and almost always finds her. But, it is quite clear that in the conditions of living in a terrarium - whether he will find a female for mating or not - will depend on you, as the owner of the spider.

Spider mating

If you seriously decide to start breeding spiders, then take care of a neutral territory for mating these creatures and a female spider in advance. And, after you notice that your spider has begun to weave a ritual web - start trying to cross spiders. To do this, first place a female spider in a neutral terrarium, and then a male spider.

If the female spider has other plans and the “children” item is not included in them, most likely she will attack the male spider. In this case, it is recommended to immediately resettle the male from the terrarium. Since the struggle between spiders for territory - the female now perceives the male as a potential invader of her square centimeters, may end in the death of one of the spiders or self-mutilation and severed limbs. By the way, many mistakenly think that the female eats the male spider. Well, it doesn't always happen that way. If the male pack is strong enough - he can handle the female and then, instead of thinking where to attach the little spiders, you will think about where to get another female, instead of the one that died in the paws of the male spider.

If the female spider is ready to mate, she will initially simply ignore the male. The task of that will be to attract her attention with a ritual dance, and lure the female out of the shelter, where she could hide at the sight of an alien spider. After that, the male begins to carefully approach the female, who will behave quite calmly. Although, there are cases when the female herself attracted the male spider by drumming her paws on the substrate. After such an “invitation”, the spider begins the mating process, which lasts for several seconds. At the end of them, he quickly runs away to the other end of the terrarium, as the spider can change her mood and attack him. It is recommended to transplant the male immediately after mating, in order to avoid unpleasant incidents.

At one time, the male is able to fertilize several females. Similarly, a female can mate with several males in one season.

Features of the behavior of the female spider

The structure of the female spider

Depending on many factors - the season, the temperature in the terrarium, the humidity index, the availability of food, and the fertilization of eggs in the uterus can occur 1-8 months after mating.

The female lays eggs and wraps them into a cocoon. The cocoon itself consists of 2 parts, fastened with edges. It is noteworthy that in order to protect against enemies, some types of spiders weave their protective hairs into the walls of the cocoon.

The female spider is very careful about her egg laying and monitors the cocoon, turns it over and can move with it inside the terrarium. In fact, there is a completely logical explanation for this behavior of hers - depending on the indicators of humidity and temperature, the female is looking for optimally comfortable conditions for her spiderlings.

If you want your venture to be crowned with success and small spiders are born, try not to irritate the female during this period, and protect her from stress. Since there are cases when, as a result of an experienced nervous shock, a spider ate her cocoon.

By the way, some spider breeders practice ... to take on maternal functions and after the female lays down the clutch and braids it with cobwebs, they take the cocoon from the terrarium and place it in a special container, turn such a cocoon over several times a day and monitor the humidity and temperature . I want to warn you right away that such an “incubator” is very difficult task therefore, we do not undertake to guarantee you that you will cope with maternal duties better than the spider itself.

There are also cases when a female spider mating field laid several cocoons with a time interval of several weeks.

As for the number of eggs in such clutches, this is 30-60 eggs, but the female spider Lasiodor parahubana can lay 2500 eggs at a time!

The incubation period of eggs also depends on the type of pack itself, but on average it ranges from several weeks to 4 months. Moreover, the eggs of arboreal spider species mature faster than those of terrestrial spider species.

The appearance of small spiders

Cocoon with spiders

When little spiders are born, they measure 3-5 millimeters, and 1.5 centimeters in leg span. Newborn spiders of arboreal species are larger than terrestrial ones, and their number is less. They are distinguished by great mobility and shyness. The slightest danger, rustle, or movement - for them serve as a signal to dig deeper into the substrate of the terrarium.

The very process of the birth of spiders is very interesting. In embryos, on the eve of this event, egg teeth are formed at the bases of the pedipalps, with the help of which they tear the egg shell from the inside. But, now they are very weak, their appendages are not dissected, the covers are thin, and they feed on the yolk sac that remains in the intestine. After the first molt inside the egg, claws appear on the legs of the spider and chelicerae develop. It's time for him to show up. He experiences the next molt already postembryonally, and now he is active, able to feed on his own baby. By the way, after his birth, it is better to plant him out of the mother's terrarium, since now the spider will perceive her little spiders not as her children, but as food. What can you do, such laws of Nature...

Arachnids are characterized by the division of the body into the cephalothorax and abdomen (segmented in scorpions and non-segmented in spiders). Ticks do not have a division of the body into sections. Walking limbs 4 pairs. The eyes are simple. There are no mustaches. Respiratory organs - trachea or lungs. Dioecious.

The body of arachnids is covered with a thin cuticle, under which the hypodermis and basement membrane are located. The cuticle performs a protective function. The cephalothorax bears 6 pairs of jointed limbs. Two pairs of modified limbs surround the mouth opening. The first pair - chelicerae - has claws at the end, in which ducts of poisonous glands open; their secret has a paralyzing effect. The second pair are pedipalps; they hold and turn prey. In scorpions, pedipalps look like claws.

The function of walking legs is performed by 4 pairs of limbs of the cephalothorax. The abdomen of adult arachnids is devoid of typical limbs. Their modification is spider warts located at the end of the abdomen. The spider glands themselves (up to 1000) are located in the abdominal cavity. They secrete a sticky, stretchy substance that hardens in the air, forming a web. To catch prey, the spider builds a web. Caught in the web of an insect, he paralyzes the introduction of the secret of "poisonous" salivary glands, which starts splitting nutrients and leads to the "liquefaction" of food. Only after that the spider absorbs semi-liquid food, the digestion of which ends in his body. Thus, the spider's digestion can be called external-internal. The function of the pump during nutrition is performed by the pharynx, which is equipped with strong muscles. The ducts of the liver open into the middle intestine, and digested substances are absorbed in it. Undigested residues through the hindgut and anus are brought out.

The excretory organs are Malpighian tubules that open into the digestive canal at the border of the middle and hind intestines, and the coxal glands are modified metanephridia that open at the base of the first pair of walking limbs.

The circulatory system is not closed. The heart is located on the dorsal side of the abdomen in the form of a tube above the intestines. Some small ticks have no heart. From the heart, blood flows through the vessels to the head. In the anterior part, it pours into the gaps between the organs and goes to the posterior end of the body. On the ventral side, oxygenated blood is collected in vessels and returned to the heart. The blood of arachnids contains a respiratory pigment called hemocyanin.

The respiratory system is represented by a pair lung sacs and tracheal tubes. The tracheae open on the abdomen with respiratory openings - stigmas.

The nervous system is built according to the type of the ventral nerve chain, in which there is a decrease in the number of ganglia due to their fusion. The metamerism of the neural chain is expressed in scorpions and is not expressed in ticks.

organs of vision simple eyes located on the cephalothorax (from 2 to 12). Sensitive hairs on the pedipalps perceive air vibrations; it is from them that the spider learns about the prey that has fallen into the network. The organs of smell and chemical sense are also developed.

Paired sex glands are located in the abdomen. Reproduction is sexual. Insemination is internal. The female is much larger than the male - this is the sign of sexual dimorphism. In autumn, after fertilization, the female spider spins a cocoon and lays eggs in it. They overwinter in a cocoon, and in the spring small spiders emerge from the eggs (direct development). Scorpions have live births.

Sexually mature males in the way of life and appearance in most species are very different from females. In many species, the males are brightly colored. They are usually smaller, have proportionately more elongated legs, a different arrangement of pedipalps, and also differ from females in much greater mobility.

Sexual maturity of males occurs earlier than that of females. The average maturity of males is 1.5 years, in females it occurs no earlier than 2 years (in some species, the difference is even more divergent in time - 1.5 and 3 years, respectively), therefore, in fact, it seems impossible to "closely related" crossing of spiders that emerged from one cocoon, natural conditions. However, this is possible in captivity when growing males and females by artificially creating for them different temperature and humidity conditions and feeding regimes from an early age.

A mature male before mating weaves the so-called sperm - web, which, as a rule, has a triangular or quadrangular shape, on the lower side of which he releases a drop of sperm. The sperm is captured by the copulatory apparatus, after which the male proceeds to search for the female. At this time, his behavior is directly opposite to that of the previous period of life. He leads a vagrant lifestyle, is highly active and can be seen moving even in the daytime, covering rather significant distances in search of a female (7-9 km per night ( Shillington et al. 1997).

The detection of the female occurs mainly due to touch (vision in no way affects this process: spiders with smeared eyes easily find females) by the odorous trail left by her on the substrate or web at the hole (for example, the female Aphonopelma hentzi at the entrance to the hole weaves a ball from the web).

Having found the female, the male cautiously moves inside the hole. When meeting with a female, two scenarios are possible.

In the first variant, if the female is not ready to mate, she swiftly attacks the male, spreading her chelicerae and preparing to grab him. In this case, the male is forced to hastily retreat, otherwise he may not be perceived as a potential partner, but risks turning into a “hearty dinner”, or losing one or more limbs.
In the second scenario, the female, as a rule, does not initially show any interest in the male. In this case, the male lowers the cephalothorax and raises the abdomen, stretching forward the spaced front legs and pedipalps, backing away in the direction of the exit from the hole, thereby attracting the attention of the female and, as it were, inviting her to follow him. From time to time he stops and moves his front legs and pedipalps now to the right, then to the left, trembling with his whole body so that the female's interest in him does not weaken until they leave the hole and come to the surface. Here, having space for safe movement, he feels more confident.

Unlike other species of spiders, which are characterized by complex mating behavior, consisting in the performance of peculiar "wedding dances", for example, species of families Araneidae, Salticidae, Lycosidae, or in offering to a female of recently killed prey (in Pisauridae), courtship of tarantulas is relatively simpler.

The male periodically carefully approaches the female, quickly touches her with the tips of the front pair of legs and pedipalps or “drums” on the substrate. He usually repeats this procedure several times with slight interruptions until he is convinced that the behavior of the female does not pose a danger to him, and she will not harm him (to date, studies have not been carried out regarding the presence of features characteristic of marital behavior different types of tarantulas).

If the female is still passive, the male will slowly approach her, bringing his front paws between her pedipalps and chelicerae, which the female usually pushes apart when ready to mate. Then he, as it were, rests against them with his tibial hooks in order to take a stable position and tilts back her cephalothorax, “stroking” the lower surface of the base of the abdomen.

If the female expresses her readiness to mate (which is also often expressed in frequent "drum" sound emitted by kicking the feet on the substrate), he unfolds the embolus of one of the pedipalps and introduces it into the gonoporelocated in epigastric groove. The male performs the same action with the second pedipalp. This is actually the very moment of copulation, which lasts literally a few seconds, after which the male, as a rule, quickly runs away, since usually the female immediately begins to pursue him.

Contrary to popular belief that a female often eats her partner after mating, in most cases this does not happen (in fact, cases of eating females by males are known), if there is enough space for him to retire a considerable distance, and the male is able to after some time to fertilize several more females. Often also a female mates with different males in one season.

fertilization egg-stealing takes place in uterus with which they communicate seminal receptacles, and after a certain period copulation(from 1 to 8 months), the duration of which is directly dependent on various conditions (season, temperature, humidity, food availability) and the specific type of tarantula, the female lays eggs, braiding them in cocoon. This whole process takes place in the living chamber of the burrow, which turns into a nest. The cocoon, as a rule, consists of two parts, fastened by the edges. First, the main part is woven, then the masonry is laid on it, which is then woven with the covering part. Some species ( Avicularia spp., Theraphosa blondi) weave their “protective hairs” into the walls of the cocoon to protect it from possible enemies.

Unlike most other spiders, the female tarantula guards her clutch and cares for the cocoon, periodically turning it over with the help of chelicerae and pedipalps and moving it depending on changes in humidity and temperature conditions. This is associated with certain difficulties with the artificial incubation of spider eggs at home, which is often advisable, since it is not uncommon for females to eat laid cocoons, both as a result of stress caused by anxiety, and "for unknown reasons." For this purpose, collectors from the USA, Germany, England and Australia have developed an incubator, and some fanciers, taking cocoons from females, take over their “motherly” functions by turning the cocoon by hand several times a day (see also Breeding).

Interestingly, for several species of tarantulas, facts of laying are known after mating one after another of several (one or two) cocoons with a time difference, as a rule, no more than a month: Hysterocrates spp.., Stromatopelma spp., Holothele spp., Psalmopoeus spp.., Tapinauchenius spp.., Metriopelma spp.., Pterinochilus spp.. (Rick West, 2002, oral communication), Ephebopus murinus And E. cyanognathus (Alex Huyer, 2002, oral communication), Poecilotheria regalis (Jan Evenow, 2002, oral communication). At the same time, the percentage of unfertilized eggs increases significantly in repeated clutches.

The number of eggs laid by a female varies from species to species and is related to her size, age, and other factors. Record number of eggs known for the species Lasiodora parahybana and is approximately 2500 pieces! On the contrary, in small species it does not exceed 30-60. Incubation periods are also different - from 0.8 to 4 months. Interestingly, arboreal species generally have shorter life spans than terrestrial species (see table).

Arboreal, even such large spiders as Poecilotheria spp.. , as well as tarantulas of the genus Pterinochilus live no more than 7 - 14 years. Large terrestrial, and especially American spiders, live in captivity up to 20 years, and according to individual reports, even to a more respectable age (for example, the age of the female Brachypelma emilia who lived at S. A. Shults And M. J. Schultz, was estimated at least 35 years).

The life expectancy of males is much shorter and, in general case, limited to 3-3.5 years. The fact is that males, as mentioned above, mature earlier than females (1.5-2.5 years), and, as a rule, the average lifespan of male tarantulas of the last age (after the last molt) is five to six months. However, for individual specimens of a number of species, much longer periods are known.

Yes, according to Dr. Claudio Lipari, the life limits of males of the last age of the Brazilian Grammostola pulchra amounted to at least 27 months, and one copy lived with him for more than four years.

Other centenarians among last-age male tarantulas reported Luciana Rosa, the following:

Grammostola rosea- 18 months, Megaphobema velvetosoma - 9 months, Poecilotheria formosa- 11 months, Poecilotheria ornata- 13 months Poecilotheria rufilata - 17 months.

According to the Moscow collector Igor Arkhangelsky male of last age Brachypelma vagans lived in captivity 24 months(however, the last few months it was fed artificially), and another individual of the same species lived 20 months.

According to a Canadian scientist Rika Vesta adult male tarantula Phormictopus cancerides lived at Allana McKee, having lost the upper segments of the pedipalps after molting, 27 months, and the male Brachypelma albopilosum at the very Rika Vesta - 30 months after maturity and died during the second molt (personal communication).

Featured the following facts longevity among male tarantulas Lasiodora parahybana : 3 years Jeff Lee, 2 years 6 months Joey Reid and 2 years 3 months Jim Hitchiner.

Also the male of the species Grammostola rosea lived 2 years 5 months Jay Staples.
There is a unique case when an amateur Jay Stotsky small size male arboreal Poecilotheria regalis successfully molted twice! at the last age, with an interval between molts in 18 months. At the same time, the pedipalps and one chelicera lost during the first molt fully recovered after the second molt!

It should be true to say that such cases are known only when keeping tarantulas in captivity.

Regarding the onset of puberty in tarantulas, there is the following, often conflicting information.

Male tarantulas of the genus Avicularia reach sexual maturity by 2.5 years, females - by 3 years ( Stradling 1978, 1994). Baerg (Baerg, 1928, 1958) reports that males Aphonopelma spp.. reach sexual maturity at 10-13 years, females - at 10-12 years. tarantulas Grammostola burzaquensis become sexually mature at 6 years of age Ibarra Grasso, 1961), Acanthoscurria sternalis - at 4-6 years old ( Galiano 1984, 1992).

The information given by these authors most likely relates to observations in nature. At the same time, it should be taken into account that in captivity, the timing of the onset of puberty of tarantulas is generally reduced, and often quite significantly.

In conclusion, I would like to note that natural enemies tarantulas in captivity actually do not.