Personality dictates social spiders' roles

[Still Waters]

Social spiders' personalities determine the tasks they perform and the division of labour in their societies, new research has shown.

Females lack physical differences, instead they display either aggressive or docile behaviour.

Scientists observed how often each personality type participated in tasks like catching prey and parental care.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/27832974

[spud the mackem]

How do you tell the difference between male and female, apart from the females being bolshy and sometimes eating their mates. If I was a spider I would stay single just in case.

[Crabby Kitten]

Females are larger and rounder, with small mouths and shorter legs.

Male spiders have longer legs, patterned, spotted, speckled, striped backs or colourful.

Females are darker in colour to blend in with shadow.

Males travel distances and hunt this way.

Females keep in their webs but they have venom.

One more thing that female spiders have in common with women is a longer life span than males.

[spud the mackem]

Females are larger and rounder, with small mouths and shorter legs.

Male spiders have longer legs, patterned, spotted, speckled, striped backs or colourful.

Females are darker in colour to blend in with shadow.

Males travel distances and hunt this way.

Females keep in their webs but they have venom.

One more thing that female spiders have in common with women is a longer life span than males.

Thanks for the info, but they live longer because they eat all the males and pinch all their food, you never see 2 spiders in/on one web,so I don't see how they are "social"

[Kenemet]

Thanks for the info, but they live longer because they eat all the males and pinch all their food, you never see 2 spiders in/on one web,so I don't see how they are "social"

You're thinking of solitary spiders (and they don't always eat their mates. The males are pretty clever about avoiding ending up as prey.)

Social spiders live in family groups.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_spider