Fogbow

These Spiders Hunt in Packs With Thousands of Creatures Weaving Giant Webs

A species of "social" spider hunts in packs among webs woven by thousands of creatures, scientists have found.

Scientists with the University of Toulouse and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) published their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Findings showed incredible synchronicity between a species of social spider while hunting.

There are around 50,000 known species of spider on Earth, but only 20 of those are known to be "social" animals that survive and live communally.

Among them are the Anelosimus eximius, a spider found in French Guyana that lives in large colonies of massive webs home to thousands of spiders of all ages. Previous research on the species published in the journal Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology showed how Anelosimus eximius' cooperative behavior helps them catch an "unusually high number of large insects."

They found that Anelosimus eximius hunt in packs. When prey entered their web, the spiders coordinated their attack, with scientists observing them alternating their individual movements to hunt as one larger and more effective force.

AndyinPA wrote: ↑Wed Mar 09, 2022 10:20 pm I used to be terrified, still don't like them, but when we moved into the woods, a whole new world was opened to me. I gradually got to the point where, unless there's a specific reason or they are gigantic, we co-exist.

Frater I*I wrote: ↑Wed Mar 09, 2022 10:26 pm

AndyinPA wrote: ↑Wed Mar 09, 2022 10:20 pm I used to be terrified, still don't like them, but when we moved into the woods, a whole new world was opened to me. I gradually got to the point where, unless there's a specific reason or they are gigantic, we co-exist.

I let them go...they eat mosquitos around here...do I keep the car post lights on all the time for them so they can make an all you can eat buffet...

Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Thu Mar 10, 2022 3:49 pm We always put spiders found inside outside in spite of their screams "I'm an INSIDE spider! INSIDE!"

My students learned to do that as well. Some poor substitute teacher was about to execute an innocent arachnid in my classroom when the entire class yelled at her to put the spider outside!

The movie Arachnophobia still scared me, at least, the few frames I actually watched.

PaulG wrote: ↑Fri Mar 11, 2022 9:49 pm

Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Thu Mar 10, 2022 3:49 pm We always put spiders found inside outside in spite of their screams "I'm an INSIDE spider! INSIDE!"

My students learned to do that as well. Some poor substitute teacher was about to execute an innocent arachnid in my classroom when the entire class yelled at her to put the spider outside!

The movie Arachnophobia still scared me, at least, the few frames I actually watched.

Yeah I've read that inside spiders will simply die outside. I just put them under sink (where they probably came from anyway). Supposedly they spend most time out of sight in cracks, but venture out to reproduce.

Foggy wrote: ↑Wed Mar 09, 2022 12:40 pm Oh man, if'n ol' Wifehorn sees one of them things, I'm gonna have to scrape her off the ceiling ... after dealing with the arachnid, of course.

qbawl: I had a buddy who was kinda like that.

Tiredretiredlawyer wrote: ↑Sat Mar 12, 2022 11:41 am

qbawl: I had a buddy who was kinda like that.

Let's just say your buddy is "interesting".