Sexual behavior. Reproduction

Spider (Araneae) belongs to the phylum arthropod, class Arachnida, order Spiders. Their first representatives appeared on the planet approximately 400 million years ago.

Spider - description, characteristics and photographs

The body of arachnids consists of two parts:

• The cephalothorax is covered with a shell of chitin, with four pairs of long jointed legs. In addition to them, there is a pair of claws (pedipalps), used by mature individuals for mating, and a pair of short limbs with poisonous hooks - chelicerae. They are part of the oral apparatus. The number of eyes in spiders ranges from 2 to 8.
• Abdomen with breathing holes located on it and six arachnoid warts for weaving webs.

The size of spiders, depending on the species, ranges from 0.4 mm to 10 cm, and the span of their limbs can exceed 25 cm.

Coloring and pattern on individuals different types depend on the structural structure of the integument of scales and hairs, as well as the presence and localization of various pigments. Therefore, spiders can have both dull, monochromatic and bright colors of various shades.

Types of spiders, names and photographs

Scientists have described more than 42,000 species of spiders. About 2,900 varieties are known in the CIS countries. Let's consider several varieties:

• Blue-green tarantula (Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens)

one of the most spectacular and beautifully colored spiders. The tarantula's abdomen is red-orange, its limbs are bright blue, and its carapace is green. The size of the tarantula is 6-7 cm, with a leg span of up to 15 cm. The spider’s homeland is Venezuela, but this spider is found in Asian countries and in African continent. Despite belonging to tarantulas, this type does not bite spiders, but only throws special hairs located on the abdomen, and even then in the case severe danger. The hairs are not dangerous for humans, but they cause minor burns on the skin, similar in effect to nettle burns. Surprisingly, female chromatopelma are long-lived compared to males: the lifespan of a female spider is 10-12 years, while males live only 2-3 years.

• Flower spider (Misumena vatia)

belongs to the family of side-walking spiders (Thomisidae). Color varies from absolutely white to bright lemon, pink or greenish. Male spiders are small, 4-5 mm long, females reach sizes of 1-1.2 cm. The species of flower spiders is distributed throughout European territory (excluding Iceland), and is found in the USA, Japan, and Alaska. The spider lives in open areas with an abundance of flowering herbs, as it feeds on the juices of those caught in its “embraces” and.

• Grammostola pulchra (Grammostola Pulchra)

Sidewalk spiders (crab spiders) most They spend their lives sitting on flowers waiting for prey, although some members of the family can be found on the bark of trees or the forest floor.

Representatives of the family of funnel-web spiders place their webs on tall grass and bush branches.

Wolf spiders prefer damp, grassy meadows and swampy wooded areas, where they are found in abundance among fallen leaves.

The water (silver) spider builds a nest underwater, attaching it to various bottom objects with the help of webs. He fills his nest with oxygen and uses it as a diving bell.

What do spiders eat?

Spiders are quite original creatures that eat very interestingly. Some types of spiders may not eat for a long time - from a week to a month or even a year, but if they start, there will be little left. Interestingly, the weight of food that all spiders can eat during the year is several times greater than the weight of the entire population living on the planet today.
How and what do spiders eat? Depending on the species and size, spiders forage and eat differently. Some spiders weave webs, thereby organizing clever traps that are very difficult for insects to notice. Digestive juice is injected into the caught prey, corroding it from the inside. After some time, the “hunter” draws the resulting “cocktail” into his stomach. Other spiders “spit” sticky saliva while hunting, thereby attracting prey to themselves.

snail or earthworm and eat them there in peace.

The queen spider hunts only at night, creating a sticky web bait for unwary moths. Noticing an insect next to the bait, the queen spinner quickly swings the thread with her paws, thereby attracting the attention of the prey. The moth happily hovers around such a bait, and having touched it, it immediately remains hanging on it. As a result, the spider can calmly attract it to itself and enjoy its prey.

Large tropical tarantula spiders happily hunt small ones,

Haymaking spiders prefer cereal grains.

Judging by numerous notes by scientists, a huge number of spiders destroy small rodents and insects several times more than the animals living on the planet.

Spider breeding

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

Physiology of house spiders

In fact, the physiology and biology of reproduction of house 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, it serves as a hint to the owner of spiders and an answer to the question - where is the female spider and where is the male? appearance such exotic pet. So,

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

By the way, they reach puberty earlier than females, who look somewhat gray compared to such bright “men,” behave awkwardly, and are characterized 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-corner shape. It secretes a drop of inseminating liquid onto the underside of such a web. After such a “network” is ready in every sense of the word, 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 during the night in order to find a female.

The spider is looking for the “lady of the heart” very in an interesting way – using exclusively the senses of touch. He follows the female's trail and almost always finds her. But, it is quite clear that when living in a terrarium, whether he finds a female to mate with or not will depend on you, as the owner of the spider.

Spiders mating

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

If the female spider has other plans and “children” are not included in them, most likely she will attack the male spider. In this case, it is recommended to immediately remove 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, can end in the death of one of the spiders or self-harm and severed limbs. By the way, many people mistakenly think that the female eats the male spider. So, it doesn't always happen this way. If the male spider is strong enough, he can cope with the female and then, instead of thinking about where to place the little spiderlings, 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. His task 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 a stranger spider. After this, 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 several seconds. At the end of them, he quickly runs away to the other end of the terrarium, since the spider can change her mood and attack him. It is recommended to remove the male immediately after mating in order to avoid unpleasant incidents.

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

Features of the behavior of a female spider

The structure of a female spider

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

The female lays eggs and weaves them into a cocoon. The cocoon itself consists of 2 parts, fastened at the edges. It is noteworthy that to protect themselves from 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 watches the cocoon, turns it over and can move with it inside the terrarium. In fact, there is a completely logical explanation for this behavior - depending on humidity and temperature, the female searches for the optimal comfortable conditions for their spiders.

If you want your idea to be successful and small spiders to be born, try not to irritate the female during this period and protect her from stress. Since there are often cases when, as a result of a nervous shock, a spider ate its cocoon.

By the way, some spider breeders practice... taking on maternal functions and, after the female lays her clutch and weaves a web around it, 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 would like to immediately warn you that such an “incubator” is a very difficult task, therefore, we do not undertake to guarantee you that you will cope with maternal responsibilities better than the spider herself.

There are also cases when a female spider laid several cocoons after mating at intervals of several weeks.

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

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

The appearance of small spiders

Cocoon with spiders

When small spiders are born, their size is 3-5 millimeters, and their leg span is 1.5 centimeters. Newborn spiders of arboreal species are larger than terrestrial ones, and their number is smaller. They are distinguished by great mobility and timidity. The slightest danger, rustle, or movement serves as a signal for them to burrow deeper into the substrate of the terrarium.

The process of the birth of spiders is very interesting. In embryos, on the eve of this event, egg teeth are formed at the base 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 dismembered, their integuments are thin, and they feed on the yolk sac that remains in the intestines. After the first molt, claws appear on the spider's legs inside the egg and chelicerae develop. It's time for him to be born. He experiences the next moult post-embryonic, and now he is an active baby, capable of feeding on his own. By the way, after its birth, it is better to remove it from the mother’s terrarium, since now the spider will perceive her little spiderlings not as her children, but as food. What can you do, such laws of Nature...

Order: Araneae = Spiders

The reproduction biology of spiders, in terms of the complexity and originality of the observed phenomena, surpasses everything that is characteristic of other arachnids, and this is again due to the use of the web.

Sexually mature male spiders are usually very different from females in their lifestyle and appearance, although in some cases males and females are similar. Usually the male is smaller than the female, with relatively longer legs, and sometimes the males are dwarf, 1000-1500 times smaller in volume than the females. In addition to size, sexual dimorphism is often manifested in certain secondary sexual characteristics: in the bright pattern of males, in the special shape of individual pairs of legs, etc. Males, as a rule, are found less frequently than females, and in some species they are not found at all. At the same time, the virgin development of eggs in spiders appears to be a rare exception. In tenet spiders, sexually mature males usually no longer build trapping nets, but wander around in search of females and are caught in the female’s nets in short period mating.

Internal organs The reproductive system of spiders generally has a fairly common structure. The testes are paired, convoluted vas deferens are connected near the genital opening, which in the male has the appearance of a small slit. The ovaries are paired, in some cases fused at the ends into a ring. Paired oviducts connect to unpaired organ- the uterus, which opens with the oviductal opening. The latter is covered by a folded elevation - the epigina. There are seminal receptacles - sacs from which the tubules extend to the excretory part of the genital tract and to the epigyne, where they usually open independently of the ovarian opening.

The copulatory organs are formed on the male's pedipalps only during the last molt. Before mating, the male secretes a drop of sperm from the genital opening onto a specially woven arachnoid mesh, fills the copulatory organs of the pedipalps with sperm, and during mating, with their help, introduces sperm into the seminal receptacles of the female. In the simplest case, on the pedipalp tarsus there is a pear-shaped appendage - a bulbus with a spiral spermatic canal inside (Fig. 35.5). The appendage is extended into a thin spout - an embolus, at the end of which a canal opens. During mating, the embolus is inserted into the female's seminal receptacle. In most cases, the copulatory organs are more complex, and the ways of their complication can be traced within the order and are somewhat different in different groups spiders Usually the tarsus of the pedipalps are enlarged. The articular membrane of the bulbus turns into a blood receptacle, which, at the moment of mating, swells like a bubble under the pressure of the hemolymph. The spermatic canal forms complex loops and opens at the end of a long embolus, tourniquet or other shape. There are often additional appendages that serve for attachment during mating. The structure of copulatory organs in detail is very diverse, characteristic of individual groups and species, and widely used in the taxonomy of spiders.

The male fills the pedipalp bulbs with seed shortly after the last moult. The sperm mesh has a triangular or quadrangular shape and is suspended horizontally. The male immerses the ends of the pedipalps into a drop of sperm secreted onto it. It is believed that sperm penetrates through the narrow canal of the embolus due to capillarity, but it has now been established that at least in forms with complex copulatory organs there is a special seminal suction canaliculus. In some spiders, the male does not make a web, but pulls one or several webs between the legs of the third pair, releases a drop of sperm onto the web and brings it to the ends of the pedipalps. There are also species whose males take sperm directly from the genital opening.

The male, with copulatory organs filled with sperm, goes in search of a female, sometimes covering considerable distances. In doing so, he is guided mainly by his sense of smell. He distinguishes the odorous trail of a mature female on the substrate and her web. In most cases, vision does not play a significant role: males with blurred eyes easily find females.

Having discovered a female, the male begins “courtship”. Almost always, the male’s excitement manifests itself in certain characteristic movements. The male twitches the threads of the female's net with his claws. The latter notices these signals and often rushes at the male as prey, causing him to flee. Persistent “courtship,” sometimes lasting for a very long time, makes the female less aggressive and prone to mating. Males of some species weave small “mating nets” next to the female’s snares, into which they lure the female with rhythmic movements of their legs. In burrow-dwelling spiders, mating occurs in the female's burrow.

In some species, repeated mating with several males and competition between males is observed, which gather on the female’s snares and, trying to get closer to her, fight with each other. The most active one drives away rivals and mates with the female, and after some time another male takes his place, etc...

So, fully ripe for creative nature's goals, a male spider sets out in search of a female of his species. The task is not at all easy, as it may seem to someone who has not particularly delved into this matter. Not easy and dangerous. Endurance, courage and caution are required a lot.

Before setting off on a long journey, the male spider weaves a tiny hammock - three millimeters in length - triangular or rectangular, depending on who you are.

Carefully, so as not to tear it, he drops a drop of a substance onto the spider web of the hammock, which will later fertilize the eggs. Then he brings the pedipalps with a palpal organ at the end to the hammock, which, as we already know, acts like a syringe. Lightly tapping it, it sucks a drop from the hammock.

Now suitably equipped, he is ready to go to the ends of the earth to breathe life into the eggs born of the spider.

We have roughly calculated how far the males of some species of spiders must travel for each to find a female: on average, hundreds of meters!

Therefore, many of them do not walk, but fly on spider webs, as they once did in childhood.

What does a tiny baby spider weigh? Fluffy! But maturity came and brought heavy milligrams. Now the spider's weight category is different - will the wind catch it as easily as before? We see that many adult spiders are still picked up just fine. But no spiders! Great!

Can you guess what unexpected conclusion we have come close to? That’s why, apparently, spiders are smaller than arachnids, so that they are lighter, so that the road to aviation is not closed to them. You can go all over the place and still not find the spider. Air transport, as everyone knows, saves time better than land transport. Evolution took this evidence into account, and those spiders whose males were dwarfs survived its vicissitudes. (That’s what spider experts like Bartels and Wiele think, anyway).

But then - whether he was walking or flying - the spider found his spider. But again, not everything is fine, everything is not like with people: you can’t just approach it - it’s not a sheep. The friend is short-sighted and gluttonous. Without really figuring out who came to her, she can rush and “bite her to pieces.” It is the custom of many spiders to devour their mates.

To warn the spider in advance about its visit, the spider, holding the thread of the web on which the ferocious female sits, shakes it. Each type of spider has its own shock code, its own Morse code.

If the spider is inclined to receive a guest, she shakes the web in response to the “agreed” rhythm: “Go, don’t be afraid, I won’t eat you.” Then the spider enters the danger zone. And when he comes closer, he sometimes strokes the spider with his front paws: “It’s me, not a fly.”

The tarantula, approaching the tarantula, knocks its pedipalps on the ground. The answering stomp means, like the shaking of the web: “Don’t be afraid, I won’t eat.”

Some spiders, in order to better protect themselves from the dangerous aggression of the “weaker” sex, resort to the following preventive strategy: they take females as wives at a young age, when they are completely helpless. They are swaddled in cobwebs and patiently wait nearby for the young, securely packaged friend to shed her baby skin and become ripe for motherhood.

But what should spiders do, whose spiders don’t weave webs? When they come on a date, what string should they pull? The tarantula “stomps” with its pedipalps, and the others “semaphore” their legs from afar - they wave, like flags are signaled in the navy: one up, the other sideways, then both down... These rhythmic swings of the legs seem to hypnotize the spider, subdue, attract. For her, evocators are sensory stimuli of special motives. On her thoughtless brain, they act as trigger signals for a series of innate, but for the time being dormant unconditioned reflexes, commanding her not to drive the male, not to kill, but, so to speak, to caress him. In its own way, of course, in a spider’s way.

In jumpers, or salticid, the evocator is choreographic. In the spring they dance for a long time, sometimes for half an hour (there is no other way to say it!) in front of the females.

In the mating dances of spiders, a clear parallel is visible with the current games of birds. There is even a parallel with the continuation: some spiders, when courting a female, present her with... an “engagement” insect - a trophy of a successful hunt. And birds, for example terns, have a fish in their beak. This unparalleled similarity in the habits of spiders and birds does not prove their genetic relationship, but only the curious guess that nature does not have an infinite number of different paths for development. Evolution happened to grow similar fruits on branches of the “tree of life” that were very far from the common trunk.

The mating season has passed, and the spider, burdened with eggs, is in a hurry to free itself from them. She weaves a “rug” out of silk, laying egg after egg on the rug. She swaddles them tightly on all sides with cobwebs and then keeps watch not far from the cocoon. Those that do not do this do not keep watch, before leaving the cradle with eggs forever, they camouflage it with earth, various debris, or braid it with a web tightly, like parchment, or hang it on a thin thread.

To say that the spider is very fertile is to say a lie. He is very far from cod records.

The number of eggs in a cocoon varies among spiders: the tiny Oonops has only two, while the square spider has a thousand. But usually, if there are few eggs in a cocoon, there are more cocoons themselves. And the number of cocoons depends very much on the weather. In a cold, bad summer, the female cross will weave only one or two cocoons, and in a good summer - six. A hungry spider has fewer eggs than a well-fed one - this is also quite clear. In general, all cocoons woven over the summer by one spider contain from 25 to several thousand eggs. On average - about a hundred.

The time of spider maturity is fleeting, like their life itself. Those that are born in the spring, after overwintering, usually die the following summer or autumn. Their “longevity,” therefore, is a little more than a year. Only some of those born in spring live two or three years.

The life of spiders that breed in late summer and autumn is less than a year. After overwintering as embryos in eggs (or as babies in broken shells), they die the following fall (many argiopiids). Only atipus mole rats, spiders of ancient origin, die as ancients - at 7–9 years of age.

Big spider grows longer and lives longer. Probably, tropical tarantula spiders (overseas cousins ​​of Atipus) crawl on exotic foliage for not a year or two, but maybe ten or more years before saying goodbye to it forever.

Warm weather, a full stomach and early marriages... shorten the life of spiders. Even our short-lived spiders lived in cool rooms on a meager diet and alone in laboratories for nine years.