Spiders

There are many misconceptions about spiders. They are, however, remarkable and interesting creatures and, importantly, mostly harmless to humans. They play a very important role in nature and in the agricultural environment, a fact of which many of us are unaware.

"South Africa is a hotspot of spider diversity, 2028 known species, 60% of which are endemic" (Dippenaar-Schoeman, Foord and Haddad - Spiders of the Savanna Biome). Thanks to the work done nationally by Dr. Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman and the South African National Survey of Arachnida (SANSA) some 502 species of spiders have to date (July 2019) been recorded in this area. A spreadsheet of their names can be downloaded here. Those that have been photographed in the Waterberg are marked below by and these can be viewed by clicking on the species name - additions to this incomplete photographic collection are welcomed.

For more details on each family click here.

Marita Beneke, July 2019

The line drawings below illustrate the arrangement of the eyes in some of the larger families.

For a quick overview of the largest families, Araneidae, Gnaphosidae,  Lycosidae,  Oxyopidae,  Pisauridae,  Salticidae, Theraphosidae,  Thomisidae,  Other families you can see a composite of each by clicking on the required family name.