Spider and ... eggs?

[billtils]

In the course of tidying up my catalogs I've found a few images worth another go, including this one. It's not so much the spider itself (failed to get an eye shot) but the blob beside it - is it eggs or just a random lump of "stuff"?




Thanks in advance!

[DanK]

Looks like eggs to me.

Some spiders carry their egg mass around, although I have no idea how they do anything else while they are doing it. This is a photo of what's often called over here a "dock spider" (a species in the genus Dolomedes) that I took, as luck would have it, on a dock:

[escape]

It would be amazing to see those eggs hatch. Did a quick AI search on Dock Spiders.

Dock spiders, also known as fishing spiders or nursery web spiders, belong to the family Pisauridae. The number of eggs laid by a dock spider can vary, but typically, a female dock spider lays several dozen to a few hundred eggs.

Female dock spiders create a silk sac or egg sac to protect and house their eggs. The silk sac is often carried by the female, attached to her spinnerets, until the eggs are ready to hatch. The number of eggs in a single sac can range from around 100 to 1,000, depending on the species and environmental conditions.

After constructing the egg sac, the female typically places it in a sheltered location, such as under leaves or rocks, and guards it until the eggs hatch. Once the spiderlings emerge, they may stay close to the mother for a period before dispersing.

It's important to note that there is some variability in reproductive behaviors among different species of dock spiders, so the specific details may vary. The information provided here is a general overview based on common characteristics observed in this spider family.