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A collective web of Agelena consociata in Uganda.. A social spider is a spider species whose individuals form relatively long-lasting aggregations.Whereas most spiders are solitary and even aggressive toward other members of their own species, some hundreds of species in several families show a tendency to live in groups, often referred to as colonies.
A unique behavior of this tarantula is that it is communal, to the point that mother spiders care for the young, even attacking potential predators if they get too close to her egg sac. In captivity, multiple males and females of different ages may live together without attacking one another, provided that they have enough food and proper care.
Delena cancerides, the communal huntsman, flat huntsman or social huntsman, is a large, brown huntsman spider native to Australia. It has been introduced to New Zealand , where it is sometimes known as the Avondale spider . [ 1 ]
Sacrificial mothers: Offspring of the species Stegodyphus lineatus eat their mother. Females of Segestria florentina sometimes die while guarding her eggs and the hatched spiders later eat her. Non-reproductive cannibalism: Some spiders, such as Pholcus phalangioides, will prey on their own kind when food is scarce. [18]
Spiders are compelled to retrieve snagged prey upon vibratory cues. [11] The Stegodyphus dumicola have been found to follow a “shy” and a “bold” personality, where shy spiders are latent and do not respond to prey capture stimuli, and bold spiders are active and seek to forage. Smaller spiders tend to have a bold personality.
Spiders have been observed to grab onto the prey's leg and move away into an area when none of the spiders can see it eating first. Otherwise, all the individuals in the nest eat together, breaking away different portions to jointly divide the meal. Communal feeding occurs even with spiders who may not have taken part in the prey capture.
The spiderlings hatch in this retreat, being released from their cocoon by their mother and then protected by her for another two weeks. Web-building behavior uses up time and energy, but provides an advantage in the ability to catch prey. Fixing and constructing webs occurs only at night, but prey capture can occur during the day or at night.
These spiders build a tunnel shaped web and as adults should be provided around 2 - 3 inches of substrate. They are commonly fed crickets, cockroaches, and grasshoppers. Though they can kill small vertebrates ( mice , small lizards , birds , snakes ), these feeder animals are not commonly used in captive care.