These social spiders, Stegodyphus dumicola, or “hippie spiders,” as they’ve come to be known, flourish in a commune-like society. They take up residence within the wilds of Africa. These fascinating animals are colony-dwelling matriarchs, with complex social systems that allow colonies of individuals to work together to hunt and raise their young. Perhaps most surprisingly, they display altruistic tendencies towards their colony’s young which allure us to better understand their complex social structure.
A recent study based on fieldwork by researchers from the University of Portsmouth has helped untangle the symbolic behaviors of Stegodyphus dumicola. During the four-month project, researchers observed 28 colonies of bees every other week to compare their behavioral characteristics. These surprising results flip our usual understanding of animal personalities on its head. They argue that these spiders miss differentiated personalities, providing a jumping off point for examining individuality in social animals.
Cooperative Society of Stegodyphus Dumicola
Stegodyphus dumicola has a particularly interesting social system. In these cooperative colonies, these spiders gather prey and share it, allowing every colony member to thrive. As a result, this complex social structure facilitates cooperative and effective hunting, as well as pack care for the comma’s young. The spiders display complex behaviors that illustrate their social nature, like working together to catch prey.
Hippie spiders is a perfect name for them, given their preference for not living alone and their rejection of labels. Rather, they place the needs of the colony above personal needs, sometimes even at the risk of personal loss. These activities are not just cool, they demonstrate a surprising complexity of social behavior between these spiders.
What really sets Stegodyphus dumicola apart is its suspiciously self-sacrificing nature. Naturalists have observed ants throwing themselves on the fire, on the same protect-the-young-huddled-colony principle. This behavior demonstrates a deep personal cost and commitment to their future communal existence. This seemingly altruistic behavior shines a light on the rich nature of their social interactions. It encourages us to examine the evolutionary benefits of these altruistic sacrifices.
Behavioral Variability and Influencing Factors
The study led by Dr. Lena Grinsted, a Senior Lecturer in Zoology at the University of Portsmouth, focused on three primary behavioral traits: boldness in response to threats, fleeing responses, and prey capture speed in group settings. Scientists found that Stegodyphus dumicola displayed extreme oscillating behavior across days. These shifts are almost certainly driven by a combination of internal and external factors.
For instance, the level of hunger can dramatically impact a person’s mood or attitude. In terms of behavior, when food is low, spiders can become more bold or even have altered flight responses in the face of threats. Greater food availability might promote risk-taking. These spiders have amazing behavior. This means they change based on what’s going on around them rather than having set personality characteristics.
Environmental variables have a substantial impact on the behavioral expression of Stegodyphus dumicola as well. Changes in temperature, humidity, and resource availability may all play a role in how these spiders behave in cooperation and conflict within their colonies. Scientific inquiry into outside factors found some surprising and incredibly useful insights into arachnid conduct. These perspectives shed light on the active process of spiders’ dynamism and its impact on sociality.
Implications for Understanding Animal Personalities
The results of this very large study do call into question what we might think about the idea of personality in social spiders. Although docility is common in other animals as a fixed feature, Stegodyphus dumicola proves otherwise. Turns out, research shows that these spiders probably don’t even have personalities. Their activities change based on new internal cues and external factors.
This discovery is especially enlightening for the study of social species more broadly. Conversely, if Stegodyphus dumicola does not have stable personalities, exciting new research avenues open up. Now scientists can investigate how other social animals, from insects to mammals, might exhibit similar behaviors. The implications go well beyond jumping spiders. This calls scientists to rethink the definition of animal personality and study how it manifests in multiple species.
The work done by Dr. Grinsted and her team was groundbreaking. Tyler and Jayme published their findings in the highly-respected journal Animal Behaviour, contributing to our understanding of zoology and animal behavior. Research on the evolution of Stegodyphus dumicola and other social creatures has just begun. Here’s hoping this line of research unlocks further understanding of the interwoven intricacies of behavior and social order in the animal kingdom.