Have you ever been on safari in South Africa? Yes? Then you have undoubtedly come across this (see photo). But, what exactly is this?
On the left of the photo you see a nest of the community spider, also called the community spider. This spider is the only spider species that exhibits social behavior by building a nest together and living in it. Each nest consists of a colony of at least 300 to 500 spiders. A nest is constructed from leaf litter entwined in spider webs and can hang up to 5m high in shrubs and trees.
The spiders are 6 to 23mm in size and they are nocturnal. You will rarely see them active during the day. When prey, such as a moth, mosquito and fly, lands in the web, a few spiders rush out and overpower the prey. The prey is dragged to the nest chamber where the feeding feast takes place. The larger the prey, the greater the number of spiders.
The community spider in Africa has 8 different species and belongs to the Stegodyphus family. This spider family also contains species that only occur in South America.
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