If you suffer from arachnophobia (the fear of spiders), then hold onto your seat.
While the thought of one spider might be terrifying, what about spiders that hunt in packs of hundreds?
Aside from the need to find and interact with a mate, most spiders live solitary lives. But according to an article by Cameron Duke, in the March 7, 2022 issue of Live Science, of the 50,000 (or so) species of spiders, 20 species are known to live in colonies.
One species, Anelosimus eximius, lives in extremely large colonies of up to 1,000 individuals.
Found in the Neotropical regions of Central and South America, together these industrious spiders construct webs that span up to several meters and can be found from ground level up to 60 feet into the forest canopy.
When an unfortunate animal falls into this collaborative web, the spiders’ coordinated attack enables them to tackle prey much larger than any individual spider could by hunting solo.
The vibrations created by the struggling prey travel through the massive web, sending the message to the spider colony that, “Dinner is served.” But as the pack of spiders approach their intended victim, they all create their own vibrations which causes confusion as to the exact location of their meal.
In order to effectively hunt together, their strategy also incorporates extremely short pit stops, where all of the approaching spiders stop and wait for the struggling prey to confirm its location. With the location verified, they continue to close in for the kill.
So if the sight of a single spider in its web still unnerves you, be glad it’s unlikely that it has the ability to call for reinforcements.