Stegodyphus sarasinorum
| Indian cooperative spider | |
|---|---|
| From Thazhambur, Tamil Nadu, India | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Eresidae |
| Genus: | Stegodyphus |
| Species: | S. sarasinorum
|
| Binomial name | |
| Stegodyphus sarasinorum Karsch, 1892
| |
Stegodyphus sarasinorum, also known as the Indian cooperative spider, is a species of velvet spider of the family Eresidae. It is native to India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Myanmar. This spider is a social spider that exhibits communal predation and feeding, where individuals live in large cooperatively built colonies with a nest or retreat constructed of silk woven using leaves, twigs, and food carcasses, and a sheet web for prey capture.
Individual S. sarasinorum spiders that have attacked prey once are more likely to attack prey again, independent of their body size or hunger level. Stegodyphus is the only genus of the family Eresidae that is arboreal, not terrestrial.