In all my time documenting the insects and arachnids in my garden, I had never captured a bold jumping spider (Phidippus audax) nest and hatching. First is the pristine silk nest spun on the leaf of kalanchoe orgyalis; it has doors on both ends.
I noticed the shape of the spider inside the nest, and as I watched from a distance, she gradually emerged from the back door, climbed up a nearby stem and jumped off into the garden.
A day later, the nest is in disarray and one tiny bold jumper can barely be seen leaving the nest in the last photo. I found some others scattered in the vegetation nearby. Good luck hunting, little ones.
