female guarding ooths or nymphs ?

[nympho]

cant find a post on this so thought id start one. i read they guard ooths but i think as they dont move around much they just look like they are.

my female gambian has laid 4 ooths now in the same place of the tub, and always sits next to them. but is she guarding them? against what; they look to be inedible anyway and shes too puny to do much against anything big enough to eat them. i suppose she could fend off a predatory bug that could pierce the eggs inside. or maybe its just the right temp, humidity there so she just attracted to that spot which is why she chose that spot to lay in the first place.

also im interested in they eat their own nymphs when they hatch. anyone tested this. i suppose most people shift the female before the ooth hatches so dont find out .

 

[macro junkie]

iv not tested it but i bet the female would eat the nympths soon as they hatch

 

[Malnra]

she's waiting for the cookies to finish baking for a quick snack ;- >

 

[Christian]

Not really. Pseudoharpax are not known to guard their ooths. This is known from Deroplatys, Brancsikia and some Tarachodidae. The ooth is guarded against predators (yes, there are some which eat ooths) and parasitoids. In the respective cases the female does not eat the hatching offspring. After one or two days, though, the guarding instinct is gone and from now on the hatchlings are eaten. In nature most of them have spread out already at that point.