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Spiders And Arachnids Are Not As Family Oriented As Previously Thought | Spider Control Tucson

Spiders And Arachnids Are Not As Family Oriented As Previously Thought | Spider Control Tucson

Researchers have long known that some spiders are social while other types of spiders are more self-reliant. But why the difference? Research is now showing that spiders will live in colonies only if the environmental conditions are too harsh for mothers to care for their offspring without assistance.

Spiders and arachnids do not form into groups often. When groups do form among spiders or arachnid researchers have always just assumed that these creatures were forming groups in order to protect their kin. However a recent study suggests that there may be other reasons at work that could explain why spiders and arachnids form groups.

A recent study had researchers examining an arachnid species that lives in the tropical rainforest. This particular arachnid species is well known for building large intricate webs. However, the rainfall in the tropical rainforest is too substantial to keep from damaging or completely destroying the webs that these arachnids build in order to catch prey. Therefore the conditions in the tropical rainforest are too adverse for individual arachnids to live alone, let alone ones that are raising offspring.

It would be a mistake to assume that some spider or arachnid species avoid forming groups because they are naturally distant from their kin. Actually, all the members that make up different spider and arachnid species are closely related, but only some species form groups in order to collectively protect the colonies offspring.

The researchers further noted that it is natural for spiders and arachnids to want to form groups because by doing so they become able to occupy space that was not available to them before. From this perspective, social behavior among animals evolved for practical reasons concerning survival. This group-forming theory regarding spider and arachnid colonies is further supported by the fact that penguins form groups for the same reasons as spiders. In a penguin’s case, the harsh arctic climate proves to be too much for penguins that are trying to mother their offspring alone.

Do you think that humans, like some spiders, are more prosperous in groups as opposed to being nomadic in all cases, even when food is abundant?

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