Since one of the common questions on here is whether or not such and such spiderling is in pre-molt, I thought I would put up an example of what pre-molt can look like. This is just one example, from one species, at one particular age, so other spiders at other ages will show pre-molt differently.
A couple of weeks, these two slings (B. vagans) looked practically identical.
B. vagans #1: (still has normal sling coloration, though it is quite fat)
B. vagans #2:
In case you're curious, these were taken on Feb. 8th. Sling #2 molted on Sunday (Feb. 12), and Sling #1 is now darkening, about where Sling #2 was in this pic.
Feel free to post more examples to help clarify for others.
A couple of weeks, these two slings (B. vagans) looked practically identical.
B. vagans #1: (still has normal sling coloration, though it is quite fat)
B. vagans #2:
In case you're curious, these were taken on Feb. 8th. Sling #2 molted on Sunday (Feb. 12), and Sling #1 is now darkening, about where Sling #2 was in this pic.
Feel free to post more examples to help clarify for others.