Spiders: Family Araneidae
Common name: Orb-Web spiders. 40 genera in South Africa alone. One of the most interesting and diverse groups of spiders with various shapes, colours, camouflage systems and webs which makes it very difficult to elaborate in detail. Diurnal and nocturnal. Interestingly the diurnal spiders continually repair their webs for a number of days. The nocturnal ones on the other hand construct a new web every evening and when dawn comes, the web is taken down and eaten as it is a valuable source of protein. Each species of spider has its own characteristic web design. Harmless to humans. Abundance: very common. (Marita Beneke)
Common name: Orb-Web spiders. 40 genera in South Africa alone. One of the most interesting and diverse groups of spiders with various shapes, colours, camouflage systems and webs which makes it very difficult to elaborate in detail. Diurnal and nocturnal. Interestingly the diurnal spiders continually repair their webs for a number of days. The nocturnal ones on the other hand construct a new web every evening and when dawn comes, the web is taken down and eaten as it is a valuable source of protein. Each species of spider has its own characteristic web design. Harmless to humans. Abundance: very common. (Marita Beneke)
Hover on an image for the species name; click it to go to the more detailed species page.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |