11005-16405 Nurseryweb spider (Dolomedes minor) northern female guarding what is left of her tent-shaped nursery web. Within the web her spiderlings were protected until they used their tiny fangs to bite through the silk and escape into the outside world. Katikati.
DSC_6255 Nurseryweb spider (Dolomedes minor) southern female carrying her egg sac. Within the thick silk-covered sac her eggs are protected until she conceals them within a nursery web in vegetation above ground, where she will still guard them. One moult after hatching the spiderlings will use their tiny fangs to bite through the silk and escape into the outside world. Dunedin. *
DSC_5858 Nurseryweb spider (Dolomedes minor) southern female guarding her tent-shaped nursery web. Within the web her egg sacs are protected from the weather and from predators by the nurseryweb's thick silk. One moult after hatching the spiderlings will use their tiny fangs to bite through the silk and escape into the outside world. Dunedin. *
