 Portia females have never been seen eating their own eggs , but in nature females with eggs of their own have been seen eating eggs of other females of the same species . In a test , P. labiata females did not eat their eggs if the testers put them in other female 's nests , showing that the test females could identify their own eggs , possibly by chemical means . When the test females and their eggs were restored to their own nests and other females ' eggs were also placed in the same nest , the test females ate neither their own eggs nor the " foreign " ones . In nature a female is unlikely to find foreign eggs in her nest , and it might be safest for females to avoid any eggs in their own nests . 
