About Stegodyphus dumicola

Stegodyphus dumicola, commonly known as the African social spider, is a species of spider of the family Eresidae or the velvet spider family. It is native to Central and southern Africa. This spider is one of three Stegodyphus spiders that lives a social lifestyle. This spider has been studied living in large natal colonies in large, unkempt webs. Each colony is composed mainly of females, where a minority act as reproducers, and a majority remain females and take care of the young. Males live a shorter lifespan and will largely remain in the natal nest throughout its life. Females are known for extreme allomaternal care, since all females, even unmated virgin females will take care of the young until they are eventually consumed by the brood.

Picture credit: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons (Image source) Taxonomy ID 202533

(Text from Wikipedia.)

More information General information about this species can be found in Wikipedia

Taxonomy ID 202533

Data source Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University

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