Small but Silky~~

During the course of Crossopriza lyoni inbreding, many new discoveries have been made. One of the most prominent trait is the ability of the young spiderlings to spin dragline silk. Segregation of the eggs from the egg mas on the mother's mouth after more than 2 hours after egg laying has resulted in hatching of the eggs. Following 19 days of artificial incubation under controlled temperature and humidity, individuals Lyoni eggs hatch and what I found is that after 24 hours of hatching, the 1st instar spiderling tends to move upwards from the ground. This is due to the innate negative geotropism. Along the way, the 1st stage spiderling attaches its dragline silk on the surface with pyriform silk (attachment disc); a type of silk protein used by spiders to adhere silks on surface. If one spiderling on its way upwards lays the dragline silk, somehow the rest of the spiderlings will repeat the same thing. Each of them perceive the dragline laid by its siblings and add its own dragline on top of it as they move upward. This behavior has been described in details by Jeanson et al (2003). In the end, after 48 hours, a mesh of irregular dragline gossamers (web) is formed and they remain upwards within 72 hours until undergoing the 1st molt. Fascinating right? They are small and yet they are silky~

 

Once hatched, they are capable of weaving silks