Stegodyphus mimosarum

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African social velvet spider
PZSL1889Plate02, Stegodyphus mimosarum.png
female and male
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Eresidae
Genus: Stegodyphus
Species:
S. mimosarum
Binomial name
Stegodyphus mimosarum
Pavesi, 1883

Stegodyphus mimosarum, the African social velvet spider, is a species of the genus Stegodyphus , one of the velvet spiders. It is a social species found in South Africa and Madagascar. [1] Similar to closely related species such as Stegodyphus sarasinorum , S. mimosarum engages in communal living which involves remaining with the same colony even when prey availability is low, moving away in order to expand the nest not due to lack of food.

Contents

Distribution

Stegodyphus mimosarum is widely distributed throughout Africa and Madagascar. [2] In South Africa, the species is recorded from eight provinces and seven protected areas. [3]

Notable locations include Kruger National Park, Swartberg Nature Reserve, Bontebok National Park, and Ndumo Game Reserve. [3]

Habitat and ecology

The species inhabits multiple biomes including Fynbos, Grassland, and Savanna biomes at altitudes ranging from 17 to 1,467 m above sea level. [3]

Stegodyphus mimosarum is a social spider that constructs retreat-webs and lives in community nests in trees. [3]

Description

Stegodyphus mimosarum is known from both sexes. [3]

Conservation

Stegodyphus mimosarum is listed as Least Concern by the South African National Biodiversity Institute due to its wide geographical range. It is protected in more than ten protected areas. [3]

Taxonomy

The species was originally described by Pietro Pavesi in 1883. [4] It was revised by Kraus & Kraus in 1989. [5] The genome sequence was published in 2014. [6]

References

  1. ↑ Jes Johannesen; Yael Lubin; Deborah R. Smith; Trine Bilde; Jutta M. Schneider (2007), "The age and evolution of sociality in Stegodyphus spiders: a molecular phylogenetic perspective", Proc Biol Sci, 274 (1607): 231–37, doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.3699, PMC   1685853 , PMID   17148252
  2. ↑ "Stegodyphus mimosarum Pavesi, 1883". World Spider Catalog. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dippenaar-Schoeman, A.S.; Haddad, C.R.; Foord, S.H.; Lotz, L.N. (2022). The Eresidae of South Africa. Version 2. South African National Survey of Arachnida Photo Identification Guide. p. 42. doi:10.5281/zenodo.6331366 . Retrieved 22 September 2025. Creative Commons by small.svg  This article incorporates text available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
  4. ↑ Pavesi, P. (1883). "Spedizione italiana nell'Africa equatoriale. Risultati zoologici. Aracnidi del regno di Scioa". Annali del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Genova. 20: 5–105.
  5. ↑ Kraus, O.; Kraus, M. (1989). "The genus Stegodyphus (Arachnida, Araneae). Sibling species, species groups, and parallel origin of social living". Verhandlungen des Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereins in Hamburg. 30: 151–254.
  6. ↑ Kristian W. Sanggaard; et al. (2014), "Spider genomes provide insight into composition and evolution of venom and silk", Nature Communications, 5: 3765, Bibcode:2014NatCo...5.3765S, doi:10.1038/ncomms4765, PMC   4273655 , PMID   24801114, 3765


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