Motherly love

Maternal care and love are definitely not attributes commonly associated with insects, spiders and other arachnids. Completely wrongly, however. Anyone who has ever observed the dedication with which female insects, spiders and arachnids protect their clutches and care for the newly hatched young cannot help but attribute "feelings" to these animals. Even if it is "only" instincts that controls behavior, it is touching to watch and contributes to a healthy fascination with these wonders of evolution.

A female "Itata sp." jumping spider guards its valuable clutch under a thin silken blanket that it has attached to the underside of a plant leaf. She defies wind and weather and is ready to give her life to protect the offspring.
Taken in Cahuita, Costa Rica.

A female long-jawed spider "Tetragnatha sp." with her egg cocoon. Taken at Phutthamonthon Park in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand.

This female "Xysticus sp." crab spider guards its cocoon in a wheat field in Kilchberg ZH, Switzerland.

A female scorpion takes her offspring for a walk on her back. The young animals remain under care until they are big enough to survive on their own. Taken in Cahuita, Costa Rica.

A future mother bug protects her clutch. Brood parasitic wasps in particular pose a great threat to the offspring of insects and arachnids. Taken in Cahuita, Costa Rica.

A female running crab-spider (Philodromidae) is guarding her egg sac. Kilchberg ZH, Switzerland.

A mother wolf spider with her abdomen fully loaded with young spiders. The little ones feed on a yolk sac until their first molt and gradually leave the protection of the mother. Bri Bri, Costa Rica.