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Huntsman Spider Egg Sacs

Family Sparassidae

Description:

My investigations so far seem to suggest these unusual objects are spider egg sacs, or more specifically, huntsman spider egg sacs. This is definitely not a fungus. Each 'disc' was roughly 1 - 1.5 cm in diameter, white, had a flat, rough surface on top but smooth within. I touched one specimen only and it was quite brittle, the top flaking away from the base - an indication of age, no doubt. The base, however, remained firmly attached to the branch. It didn't appear to be made of silk, but rather, had a more paper-like quality. Holes were also evident on the surface of each sac, so it appears the spiderlings chewed their way out, or the mother spider tore a hole to release them. Each egg sac can contain up to 200 eggs. Once I made this spotting I kept an eye open for more, but didn't see any others along the track, and short of actually spotting the adult spider, I am unable to nominate an actual species for this spotting, or genera for that matter. There are 94 described species of Australian huntsman spiders, so the best I can do is to nominate the family: Sparassidae. The Australian Museum reference link contains plenty of information on huntsman spiders, their lives and habits. The section on 'life cycle' is very relevant to this spotting.

Habitat:

Found on an old, dry, fallen tree branch. Native vegetation, filtered sunlight, and currently very dry due to drought. Very rocky terrain and dry sclerophyll forest. Spotted in Crows Nest National Park, located northwest of Brisbane.

Notes:

Many thanks to PN Ranger MARK RIDGWAY for the invaluable lead he provided. It was crucial to this spotting, otherwise it would have been left in limbo as 'unknown' spotting. I have also viewed hundreds of images relating to huntsman spider egg sacs, so am confident this partial ID of Sparassidae Family is correct.

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3 Comments

Neil Ross
Neil Ross 5 years ago

Thanks, Mark. I'll look into it. I've done an image search, and the huntsman egg sac looks promising.

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 5 years ago

Maybe one of the huntsmans.. https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-lichen...

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 5 years ago

I found out what these were once. My gut tells me 'spider egg sac'...

Neil Ross
Spotted by
Neil Ross

Toowoomba, QLD, Australia

Spotted on Jul 26, 2018
Submitted on Jul 27, 2018

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