In the track of the open companionway hatch I found a tightly woven bundle of green leaves, similar in size to a very fat cigarette and just as long.. It was not just a leaf or two rolled up in a cocoon but an intricately woven and interlaced tube of many leaves forming an amazingly beautiful design. Although I did not dismantle it, by looking in either open end I could see a yellowish waxy substance inside.
Now my boat has a healthy spider population and I’m confident that their dominance of that niche leaves little room for any other insect population. But there are no trees for hundreds of yards from my boat, mostly just piers, water and concrete parking lots. So if the spiders made this I don’t know where they got the leaves. Besides, I’ve seen where my spiders lay their eggs, on the hull near the water line in tight bubbly clusters.
I found the cocoon while sailing and after some contemplation I threw it overboard, not wanting whatever was inside to hatch on my boat. Searching the Internet for leaf cocoon I can find only crude cocoons made of loosely wrapped dead leaves forming a cone shape, nothing like the beautiful tubular weave I found. Now I’m sorry I threw it overboard, I should have at least taken a picture of it first.
Now my boat has a healthy spider population and I’m confident that their dominance of that niche leaves little room for any other insect population. But there are no trees for hundreds of yards from my boat, mostly just piers, water and concrete parking lots. So if the spiders made this I don’t know where they got the leaves. Besides, I’ve seen where my spiders lay their eggs, on the hull near the water line in tight bubbly clusters.
I found the cocoon while sailing and after some contemplation I threw it overboard, not wanting whatever was inside to hatch on my boat. Searching the Internet for leaf cocoon I can find only crude cocoons made of loosely wrapped dead leaves forming a cone shape, nothing like the beautiful tubular weave I found. Now I’m sorry I threw it overboard, I should have at least taken a picture of it first.
) that would have done just that without a second thought.