Can someone tell me more about spider webs?

Question

Ok it has been more then a week and they has been a perfectly knit spider web at my front door. On the web there is something kinda like tiny cacoons ( 6-7 of them) woven in to the web in a straight horizontal line. I would like to know what it is. I havent broken the web because I never saw this before and am curious. Are those eggs?

Answer 1

That depends. If it looks somewhat like this it is:

http://www.nbii.gov/images/uploaded/1556...

http://www.dpughphoto.com/images/argiope...

http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_...

Also, the "cocoons" are not individual eggs. They contain thousands of tiny eggs inside. Once they hatch, baby spiders will balloon away to faraway lands. But what is suspicious about it is that there are so many. Perhaps they are just insects trapped in the silk and covered tightly by the spider? If a spider is met with an ample amount of food, it will either store it or throw it away, depending on its temperament. Garden Spiders, particularly agriopes, tend to have a large fuzzy mass as egg sacs. They egg sacs are made of silk that is not sticky, but much more difficult to break down. Spiders do not store food for long, as the venom and enzymes liquidate the prey, so if the things go away in about 3 days, it was just a food item. Black widow spiders, and other spiders that create messy webs(unlike the orb weaver) tend to make webs that are more globular and circular. Also, egg sacs are usually(depends on the type) NOT on the web. It is usually put aside. Around the top is a possiblity, but either the spider is holding it or it is attached to the top, or bottom of the web. This is because the spider will eat the web later on, given that the "perfect" web was an orb. Once a web is too damaged or too dry to catch anything, the spider will recycle it back to its body. Therefore, anything on the web would get eaten, and the spider would not like that. The shape and material for the egg also depends on the size of the spider. My pet agriope, the size of 4 baby's fists, had lots of large egg sacs that were so tough, I had to use both hands to unravel it. Even if a spider laid its eggs once, it will continue to add to its pile. This always depends on how well it is fed. Mine had about 5(not all at once), which grew to thousands of little babies. Once the spider lays its eggs, its abdomen shrinks greatly. If you have seen the spider before, you can estimate whether the "cocoons" actually were eggs.

Answer 2

Most spiders wrap their prey before biting them.  The wrapped prey is then left on the web to "age" until the spider is ready to feed.

Spiders use silk for many purposes other than constructing webs. In the fall, females of many species construct silken egg cases in which they deposit and guard their eggs.  The egg cases of some spider species may contain several hundred eggs. Young spiderlings may emerge from the cases several weeks after the cases are produced, or sometimes not until the following spring. Notice how these cases are suspended among silk threads out of the reach of ants and other critters who wouldn't mind a spiderling meal.

--------------------------

By your description, I would guess that you are dealing with a zipper spider.  I have added a few links I think you might find informative.