Observations of Colonies and Responses to Disturbance by the Uloborid Spider Philoponella republicana (Araneae: Uloboridae) at Simla Research Station, Trinidad and Tobago

Abstract

Social behaviour is uncommon in spiders. Out of the documented 44,540 spider species (Platnick 2014), only a few dozen exhibit sociality (Avilés 1997).  Such sociality varies from forming aggregations of individual webs to cooperative brood care. According to Avilés (1997), social behaviour in spiders can be placed in four categories: 1) non-territorial permanent-social (quasi social), 2) territorial permanent-social, 3) non-territorial periodic-social (sub-social), and 4) territorial periodic-social.