Here's how it goes. The mother spider lays a clutch of eggs, typically between 2 and 36. When the babies hatch, the mother deposits tiny droplets from her epigastric furrow, the opening on her abdomen from which she lays her eggs. The newly hatched babies sip from these droplets from the first few days of their life; but as they gain a little bit of size and strength, they are able to suckle directly from the mother's epigastric furrow.
The scientists aren't sure exactly what the milk is made of, but suggest it could be liquefied, unfertilised eggs. Some other animals feed their young with unfertilised eggs - frogs, for instance, and bees, although generally the eggs are laid as per normal, and the young just eat them.
https://www.sciencealert.com/some-jumping-spider-mums-nurse-their-babies-on-spider-milk-and-this-is-the-cutest
Sister blog of Physicists of the Caribbean in which I babble about non-astronomy stuff, because everyone needs a hobby
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Review : Viking Britain
Hot on the heels of Neil Price's Children of Ash and Elm comes Thomas William's Viking Britain . Given how much I enjoyed his Lost...
-
Hmmm. [The comments below include a prime example of someone claiming they're interested in truth but just want higher standard, where...
-
Where Americans think Ukraine is These are the guesses of 2066 Americans as to where Ukraine is. Only 1 in 6 were correct. Presumably the...
-
I've noticed that some people care deeply about the truth, but come up with batshit crazy statements. And I've caught myself rationa...
Is spider milk going to become a thing now?
ReplyDeleteWell, it'll make a nice refreshing change form gluten-free avocado toast, I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteThis must be an ant mimic.
ReplyDelete