Starving Spiders

The spider species, Anelosimus eximius, lives in South America in large colonies. Some of these colonies consist of tens of thousands! Their colonies grow to be so large because the spiders will remain in the nest in which they were born from one generation to the next. These species nest together, create a web together, and capture their prey together. The problem comes when the colonies become too large because these spiders eventually run out of food. The lack of food leads to massive die-offs. The problem also arises when the spiders capture prey that is far too big for any one spider to feed on. This overshare of food is a danger to the species. Researchers have found that about 21% of these colonies go extinct every generation.