Editing Redback spider (section)

===Life cycle===
[[File:Baby Latrodectus hasselti cropped.jpg|thumb|right|Redback spiderlings]]
Spiderlings hatch from their eggs after about 8 days and can emerge from the egg sac as early as 11 days after being laid, although cooler temperatures can significantly slow their development so that emergence does not occur for months.<ref name=Downes1987>{{cite journal|last=Downes|first=M. F.|title=Postembryonic Development of ''Latrodectus hasselti'' Thorell (Araneae, Theridiidae)|journal=Journal of Arachnology|year=1987|volume=14|issue=3|pages=293–301|jstor=3705670}}</ref> After hatching they spend about a week inside the egg sac, feeding on the yolk and molting once.<ref name=andrade2014>{{cite journal|last1=Modanu|first1=Maria|last2=Li|first2=Lucy Dong Xuan|last3=Said|first3=Hosay|last4=Rathitharan|first4=Nizanthan|last5=Andrade|first5=Maydianne C.B.|title=Sibling cannibalism in a web-building spider: Effects of density and shared environment|journal=Behavioural Processes|volume=106|pages=12–16|doi=10.1016/j.beproc.2014.03.011|pmid=24726519|year=2014|s2cid=25968197}}</ref>  Baby spiders appear from September to January (spring to early summer).<ref name="andrade1998">{{cite journal|last=Andrade|first=Maydianne C.B.|year=1998|title=Female Hunger can Explain Variation in Cannibalistic Behavior Despite Male Sacrifice in Redback Spiders|journal=Behavioral Ecology|volume=9|issue=1|pages=33–42|doi=10.1093/beheco/9.1.33|doi-access=free}}</ref> Male spiders mature through five [[instar]]s in about 45–90 days.<ref name=Andrade2002/><ref name="andrade2002"/> Females mature through seven–eight instars in about 75–120 days.<ref name=Andrade2002/><ref name="andrade2002"/> Males live for up to six or seven months, while females may live between two and three years.<ref name="Amo-Redback"/> Laboratory tests have shown that redbacks may survive for an average of 100 days, and sometimes over 300 days without any food, those starved at {{convert|10|°C|°F|abbr=on}} faring better than those kept without food at {{convert|25|°C|°F|abbr=on}}. Spiders are known to reduce their metabolic rates in response to starvation, and can distend their abdomens to store large amounts of food.<ref name=Forster1989>{{cite journal|last=Forster|first=L. M.|author2=Kavale, J. |title=Effects of Food Deprivation on ''Latrodectus hasselti'' Thorell (Araneae: Theridiidae), the Australian Redback Spider|journal=New Zealand Journal of Zoology|date=1 July 1989|volume=16|issue=3|pages=401–08|doi=10.1080/03014223.1989.10422906|doi-access=free}}</ref><!-- cites previous two sentences --> Redbacks can survive temperatures from below freezing point to {{convert|40|°C|°F|abbr=on}}, though they do need relatively warm summers, with temperatures of {{convert|15|to|25|C|F}} for two to three months, to survive and breed.<ref name="distributions paper"/>

Redback spiderlings cohabit on the maternal web for several days to a week, during which time [[siblicide|sibling cannibalism]] is often observed.<ref name=andrade2014/> They then leave by being carried on the wind. They follow light and climb to the top of nearby logs or rocks before extending their abdomens high in the air and producing a droplet of silk.<ref name="Forster95"/> The liquid silk is drawn out into a long [[Spider silk|gossamer]] thread that, when long enough, carries the spider away. This behaviour is known as [[Ballooning (spider)|ballooning]] or kiting. Eventually, the silken thread will adhere to an object where the young spider will establish its own web.<ref name="Amo-Redback"/> They sometimes work cooperatively, climbing, releasing silk and being carried off in clusters.<ref name="Forster95"/> Juvenile spiders build webs,<ref name="andrade1998"/> sometimes with other spiders.<ref name="Forster95"/>