Rewilding My Lot

I first noticed a Green Lynx Spider with her egg sac in the Texas Mountain Laurel tree on November 14, 2025, and then I saw baby spiderlings just a week later (November 21). As I have observed the family since then, the babies have grown and become more active, but did not stray from the webbing shroud that was around the egg sac. Mom also stayed within the shroud to guard her babies and was apparently not actively hunting, although I did see her eat a couple of things that wandered into her territory. She was clearly wasting away and at the end of her life.

Finally, the family dispersed around January 2, 2026 (six weeks after hatching). I had hoped to witness the spiderlings descend to the ground, or at least see silk threads that might have enabled that, but I saw neither. One morning they were just gone. I did see Mom a few inches lower than her usual location, laying on a leaf (perhaps dead?), and the next morning the body was gone. This is the empty nest area.

Apparently the mother’s death and dispersal of the young spiders happened at the same time. Did one trigger the other, and if so, which was the primary event? From a few things I read, I would not have expected the events to be coupled. The Green Lynx Spider mother’s role is to guard but not nourish her babies. So maybe the timing here was a coincidence.

These are the last photos I took of the spiderlings and their mother, on December 27, 2025.