As the name implies, trophic eggs, produced by some species of spiders, lady beetles, and snails, function solely as food. These prepackaged meals often outnumber the fertilized eggs in a given clutch—a fact exemplified by the results of an observational study on the rock snail (Thais emarginata). This species commonly lays a clutch of around 500 eggs but averages only 16 egg-munching hatchlings.
