Africa Wild

Genus Harpactirella (Lesser Baboon Spiders)
Harpactirella is endemic to Africa and occur in West and Southern Africa and South Morocco. Twelve species are known from Southern Africa.

Diagnostic characters
Fovea transverse; lacks plumose pad on outside of chelicerae; clypeus wide; number of cuspules on labium varies from 12–50; male with single tibial spur, capped long spine; scopulae on metatarsus IV usually confined to distal fourth; scopulae on tarsus IV divided by a thin band of setae; spines limited to base of tibia and metatarsi of all legs; serrula absent; body size 13–35 mm.

Habitat
Harpactirella are commonly found in dry grassland, Acacia veld and forests, and their burrows range from silk-lined excavations under rocks to branched burrows.

Overdijk's Lesser Baboon Spider Harpactirella overdijki
Suborder Mygalomorphae. Family Theraphosidae. Subfamily Harpactirinae

© BluTuna
Kruger National Park, Balule camp

Description
Size: Female 30 mm; Male 17 mm.
The females are readily distinguished from all other Harpactirella species by their fused spermathecae.
In males the broad squat embolus is distinctive, contrasting with the thin more elongated emboli of other Harpactirella species.
Harpactirella overdijki is distinguished from other Harpactirella species by the abscence of proximal and medial tibial spines on the legs III and IV.

Distribution
Known from South Africa (Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Limpopo).

Habitat
Open or lightly wooded habitats. They construct silk-lined tunnels/burrows beneath rocks and logs. A single egg sac is produced and suspended in the burrow, approximately 60 spiderlings hatch.

Suborder Araneomorphae

The Araneomorphae are a suborder of spiders, known as the ‘true’ or less primitive spiders. They are distinguished by having fangs that oppose each other and cross in a pinching action, in contrast to the Mygalomorphae (Baboon and Trapdoor Spiders), which have fangs that are nearly parallel in alignment. They usually have two booklungs and/or tracheae, six spinnerets and their fangs are directed diaxially (chelicerae/fang action diaxial - sideways and inwards, pinching). The majority of species are web makers.

Araneomorphae represent 94% of the known species worldwide (93 families, about 2700 genera and 32 800 species).

Family Pholcidae (Daddy-long-legs Spiders)

The family Pholcidae (Daddy-long-legs Spiders) has a worldwide distribution and is represented by 6 genera and 36 species from South Africa of which 25 are endemics.

Life styles
Web dwellers (space-web): webs are frequently found in dark habitats such as caves, under stones and fallen log.

Body size
Pholcids are fragile spiders, the body being 2 to 10 mm in length and the legs are up to 30 mm long. Males same size as females.

Diagnostic characters
Colour: cream with a few dark markings to greyish brown with dark chevrons.
Carapace: short, broad and almost circular, sometimes reniform with cephalic region usually triangular, raised and edged by deep striae, thoracic region sometimes with deep, longitudinal fovea, clypeus high, sometimes concave beneath eyes.
Eyes: 6-8, occupying entire width of carapace with anterior median eyes smallest or absent, lateral eyes arranged in group of 3.
Abdomen: triangular highest above spinnerets; globose.
Legs: extremely long with flexible tarsi.
Pholcus and Smeringopus have cylindrical abdomens and the eyes are arranged in 2 lateral groups of 3 and 2 smaller median contiguous (together) eyes.
Artema and Spermaphora has a small globose (round) abdomen and its eyes are arranged in 2 groups of 3 and no median eyes.

Web and retreat
Web: space-web; retreat: spiders hang in web without any distinct retreat.
Pholcids are often confused with the violin spider (Loxosceles, family Sicariidae) but the latter does not occur in a web, is much more robust and is very agile on all surfaces. The false violin spider or leaf-litter spider (family Drymusidae) does occur in a web similar to that of the pholcids and in fact closely resembles them but are not often encountered.
Pholcids hang inverted in what appears to be a messy, irregular, tangled web. These space-webs are constructed in dark recesses, in caves, under rocks and loose bark, abandoned mammal burrows. The web has no adhesive properties but the irregular structure traps insects, making escape difficult. The spider quickly envelops its prey with silk and then inflicts the fatal bite. The prey may be eaten immediately or stored for later. When the spider is threatened by a touch to the web or when too large a prey hits the web, the spider becomes invisible by vibrating rapidly and becoming blurred. This blurring may protect the spider from spider hunting wasps (Pompilidae). When off their webs, pholcids walk with an unsteady, bobbing action.

Habitat
Found in a variety of habitats that are usually shady and dark. Several pholcid species have been collected from caves while some species of Spermophora, Leptopholcus and Micromerys are cryptic forest dwellers found in leaf litter, under stones and in rock fissures.
Pholcus and Smeringopus are synanthropic, occurring in undisturbed areas in buildings and cellars, hence the other common name, cellar spiders.

Behaviour
Pholcids built space-webs consisting of irregular long threads crisscrossing in irregular fashion, or the center of the web consists of a large sheet more compactly woven, with a network k of irregular threads above and below it with the spider hanging inverted, more or less in the middle. A characteristic reaction of the pholcids is that they have a defense meganism known as whirling the web my moving their bodies rapidly around in circles with the legs remaining on the web while the third and fourth pair of legs throws silk over the victim. The prey is then held with the third pair of legs, while the fourth pair continues to pull silk from the spinnerets and wind it around the prey. The prey is then held by the chelicerae while feeding takes place.
The eggs of the pholcids have no protective sac but are held together as an agglutinated (glued together) mass (similar to balloons held together with a few strands of silk) and, as with the Scytodidae, are carried by the female in the chelicerae and are attached to the web while she feeds. The eggs hatch after 2 to 3 weeks and the spiderlings are either carried by the female for a few days or hang from silk strands in the her web. They mature after 5 moults.

Venom
They are harmless to people as their jaws are unable to penetrate human skin and the venom dose is also too minute. Spider specialists are often asked if it is true that, of all the spiders, the pholcids have the deadliest venom and the only reason there are no human fatalities is because of the small size of the jaws. There is no documentation on this. The venom is possibly neurotoxic, although a few reported bites indicate that it may be mildly cytotoxic, and is deadly to the prey. The myth is possibly a misidentification with Loxosceles (the violin spider the culprit).

Genera indigenous to southern Africa:
Artema: 1 species in South Africa.
Pholcus: 3 species
Quamtana: 20 species
Smeringopus: 7 species
Spermaphora: 5 species

Links: Atlas of the Spiders of South Africa; Smeringopus natalensis (PDF); Biodiversity Explorer

Daddy Long Legs Spider Smeringopus natalensis group sp., cf S. natalensis
Suborder Araneomorphae. Series Haplogyne. Family Pholcidae.

© BluTuna
Garden in Johannesburg

Smeringopus are commonly found in grassland and savanna, with some species in the drier regions and in houses.
The genus Smeringopus contains 7 species groups: Smeringopus atomarius, Smeringopus lesnei, Smeringopus hypocrite, Smeringopus natalensis, Smeringopus pallidus, Smeringopus sambesicus, Smeringopus similis.

Distribution
S. natalensis is widely distributed in eastern South Africa and southern Mozambique, ranging further west along the coast.

© ExFmem
Kruger National Park

Links:
Revision and cladistic analysis of the Afrotropical endemic genus
Smeringopus Simon, 1890 (Araneae: Pholcidae) BERNHARD A. HUBER
https://biodiversityexplorer.info/arach ... /index.htm

Family Hersiliidae

Long-spinnered or two-tailed Spiders are a small family (Hersiliidae) with a worldwide distribution. known from 5 genera and about 85 species. Three genera and 12 species are recorded from South Africa of which 7 are endemics.

Life style
Differs between genera. Hersilia: wanderers (plant dwellers): free-running on trees; Hersiliola and Tama: web dwellers (retreat-webs): webs are made under stones.
Hersilia is usually found in trees and Tyrotama is usually found under rocks.

Body size
Small to medium: 5-10 mm.

Diagnostic characters
Hersiliids are small to medium dorso-ventrally flattened spiders.
Colour: They are cryptically coloured in variegated shades of cream, orange, green, brown, grey and black, features they share with the family Selenopidae.
Carapace: densely covered with plumose setae, ovoid and flattened with a narrow longitudinal fovea and radiating striae.
Eyes: 8 in 2 strongly recurved rows situated on a large eye tubercle. The anterior median eyes are largest.
Abdomen: flat, densely covered with plumose setae.The oval abdomen is wider posteriorly with the posterior lateral spinnerets extending out parallel to each other.
Spinnerets: The Hersiliidae is a family of spiders noted for their elongated posterior lateral spinnerets, which are used in prey capture by swaying them over the victim thus wrapping the victim in silk; posterior spinnerets as long as abdomen, cylindrical with elongated and tapering apical segments. The inner edge of these spinnerets is lined with silk-producing tubules (spine-like spigots) as opposed to the distally placed spigots of most spiders.
Legs: legs very long, especially in male with leg III shortest in both sexes.

Web and retreat
Web: absent (Hersilia); irregular retreat-webs made under stones Tyrotama; retreat: absent (Hersilia); Tyrotama makes a retreat with a circular wall of closely woven webbing plastered with small stones, chips and vegetable debris.

Habitat
Hersilia found on trees in the Grassland, Savanna and Nama-Karoo Biomes while Tyrotama is found beneath stones in the more arid Nama-Karoo, Succulent Karoo Biomes.

Behaviour
Hersiliids are extremely fast moving spiders. They attack pedestrian prey by circling around them facing away, and covering it with bands of silk from their enormously elongated spinnerets. Hersilia is commonly found on the bark of trees where its mottled appearance makes it blend in with the surroundings. With their flattened bodies they are able to lay flat against the bark, without casting any shadows. The egg cocoons are attached to the bark of the tree and camouflaged with loose bark and debris. Tyrotama is usually found under stones where they build irregular retreat webs. The retreat consists of a circular wall of closely woven webbing plastered
with small stones, chips and vegetable debris. The outside of the wall is concave and smooth while the inside is decorated with a mass of fine strands and small stone chips. Around the circular wall, the web is extended by; a mass of fine trip lines attached to stones or other objects. The spider uses speed to overpower prey carrying it immediately back to the nest. The egg cocoon is attached to the underside of the stone and covered with stone chips.

Genera indigenous to southern Africa: Hersilia (long-spinnered bark spiders), Hersiliola, Neotama, Tama, Tyrotama (Long-spinnered desert spiders)

Links: Atlas of the Spiders of South Africa; Biodiversity Explorer

Long Spinnered Bark Spider Hersilia sericea
Suborder Araneomorphae. Series Entelegynae. Superfamily Eresoidea. Family Hersiliidae

© Super Mongoose

© Super Mongoose

© Super Mongoose
Ndumo GR, KwaZulu-Natal

Life Style
Wanderers (plant dwellers). A permanent inhabitant on bark. They don't spin webs, but they deposit guide threads on surfaces.

Description
Body length is 5-10 mm.
They are flat spiders with two long spinnerets protruding way past the posterior end of the abdomen. Legs are very long, especially in male. The 3rd pair of legs are much shorter and compared to the other 3 pairs they are very tiny. They are usually seen resting upside-down with legs outstretched on the bark of trees. The eyes are generally in two strongly recurved rows, situated on a large protuberance at the front of the carapace. Their colour is variable, from grey to brown and even a speckled black, and it has been reported that they may undergo a certain amount of colour change depending on the background on which they are resting.The carapace and abdomen are flattened and the abdomen is most often wider behind than it is in front. The legs are fairly robust and are held out in a star-like fashion; they have the same cryptic coloration as the spider.

Web and retreat
Absent.

Distribution
East Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, South Africa (Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KZN, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North East, Western Cape), Zimbabwe.

Habitat
Hersilia is found on trees in the Grassland, Savanna and Nama-Karoo Biomes.

Behaviour
Hersiliids are extremely fast moving spiders. They hunt pedestrian prey. They enswathe their prey, emitting silk from the long spinnerets while these are rotated rapidly across and around the victim. The prey is then bitten and consumed on the spot.
They are difficult to see on the bark of trees. The flattened body reduces shadows and the speckled coloration blends in with the background. This camouflage is destroyed only by movement, when the spider is disturbed. It is reported that should you mark the eight points at which the legs rest and then disturb the spider so it moves away, it will return and take up the identical position, after a time.

Reproduction
The egg cocoons are attached to the bark of the tree and camouflaged with loose bark and debris.

Venom
Harmless to humans.

Links: Hersiliidae of the Afrotropical Region

Family Eresidae (Velvet spiders, Social spiders, Buck-spoor Spiders)
The Eresidae include groups with very diverse lifestyles. The various genera can be identified by their different but specific webs. They are harmless to man.
The family can be recognized by a blunt face and rectangular carapace with 4 median eyes grouped together while the 4 lateral eyes are widely spaced. The cribellum is situated ventrally just anterior to the spinnerets in the form of a cream band. The abdomen is round to oval and the legs short and stout. All eresids are terrestrial (ground living) except for the arboreal (plant living) Stegodyphus.
The family Eresidae is known from the Oriental, Mediterranean, Palearctic and Afrotropical Regions. They are represented in South Africa by 7 genera and 50 species.


Life style
Web dwellers (various cribellated signal-webs); found on the soil in burrows, under stones, under bark and in grass and trees; abundance: rare.

Body size
7-20 mm (male smaller, sexual dimorphism in size, shape and colour).

Diagnostic characters
colour: various hues of dark-brown, yellowish brown to grey, abdomen sometimes with distinct patterns formed by white, orange or red setae
carapace: rectangular, high or slightly flattened, usually densely clothed with hair, fovea circular but variable in depth
eyes: 8, median eyes close together, lateral eyes wide apart and posterior lateral eyes usually positioned far back on the carapace
abdomen: rounded to oval and densely clothed with hairs, frequently with patterns
legs: short and stout with dense hairs, tarsi usually joined to metatarsi by almost rigid joints.

Web and retreat
Web: very diverse, differ between genera, usually a sheet-like signal-web radiating from retreat made of cribellated silk; webs and retreats frequently have arrays of radiating threads covered with hackled bands of cribellate silk.
Retreat: shape of retreat vary between genera.

Habitat
Eresids are found in various habitats. Paradonea, Dresserus, Penestomus and Wajane are usually found in silk retreats in dark sheltered places e.g. under stones or rocks, while Gandanameno is found under loose bark, common in savanna, grassland and Nama-Karoo; Stegodyphus is found in community or solitary nests on trees or in grass in savanna, grassland and Karoo regions while Seothyra lives in burrows made in soil in dry grassland, woodland savanna, Karoo and desert regions.

Behaviour
Dresserus spp. build a retreat of bluish-white silk under stones with shroud-like loosely woven silk trap lines extending outwards. Gandanameno spp. are found under loose bark of trees where they build a funnel-like retreat with the entrance sheltered under a tarpaulin-like flat, sheet-like signal-web. Seothyra spp. live in a tubular retreats in the ground similar to trapdoor spiders. The entrance to the burrow is covered by a lobed silk-flap covered by sand, that serves as a signal-web. It resembles a footprint in the sand. All the species of Stegodyphus are plant-living, either solitary or living in community nests e.g. S. dumicola and S. mimosarum. A retreat is made by the solitary species, usually in grass heads with trip lines extending outwards. The web structure consists of parallel threads crisscrossed with cribellate silk to form a ladder-like structure that is suggestive of part of an orb-web. Little is know about Penestomus and Wajane except that they live in silk retreats in tunnels in boulders and under debris on the ground.

Links: Atlas of the Spiders of South Africa; Biodiversity Explorer; The velvet spiders: an atlas of the Eresidae (Arachnida, Araneae)

Genus Stegodyphus (Community Nest Spiders)

Stegodyphus, commonly called social spiders, occur in Africa and South America with 8 species occurring in South Africa. This genus has the typical Eresidae feature and the colour varies from shades of grey to brown with black markings and yellow infusions. The flat face has 2 contiguous (so near that they touch) black triangular markings meeting medially. Females of the social species are 8-14 mm in length and males slightly smaller. Spiders of the solitary species are normally larger, ranging from 6-23 mm in length.
Most species are solitary except the social Stegodyphus domicola that occurs in most of southern Africa, and Stegodyphus mimosarum that occurs in the eastern regions. The latter two species are the most commonly encountered resulting in the misleading common names, community nest or social spiders, being used to describe the entire genus.
Stegodyphus could in fact have been called the tennis net spider due to its hackle web that is stretched between two points. The hackled appearance is due to the cribellate (teased) silk used. At one end of the web is a small ball-shaped nest attached to the vegetation, about a metre above the ground. In the Western Cape these webs are found in the Fynbos while in the Bushveld, the Acacia trees are used. However, fences, poles and other structures are also used. A new nest is started by as few as two spiders (usually female) that leave their original nest. As the colony increases, the nest is enlarged by successive generations. The nest includes mostly female and young; the latter living in chambers within the nest, much like a block of flats. The nest can be used for many years and can house in excess of 100 spiders. Birds often use the silk to line their nests.

Links: Spiders of Southern Africa. Astri Leroy, John Leroy

Community Nest Spider Stegodyphus dumicola
Suborder Araneomorphae. Series Entelegynae. Superfamily Eresoidea. Family Eresidae

© nan
Nest in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

Distribution
Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland.

Habitat
Stegodyphus dumicola spiders live in colonies of up to 2,000 members in thorn trees in the arid parts of southwestern Africa. The spiders build large webs consisting of dense communal living areas and a two-dimensional capture web.