Cyrtophora citricola

Few species of spiders can be considered truly social, but a greater number of species, particularly webbuilding spiders, live in close proximity to one another, potentially gaining a number of benefits by this association. Among these benefits are sharing of frame threads (Kullman 1959), improved defense against predators and parasites (Cangialosi 1990), improved prey capture efficiency (Rypstra 1979; Uetz 1989), and greater egg production (Smith 1983).

Of the three main types of aggregative behaviors exhibited by spiders, the one with the least social interaction involves individuals making and maintaining their own webs within a colonial matrix of interconnected webs (Buskirk 1975). One such species, which has become highly successful through a lifestyle of colonial aggregation, is the orbweaver Cyrtophora citricola Forskål. This species is known as a tentweb spider in Africa (Dippenaar-Schoeman and Jocqué 1997). In 2000, this species was found in southern Florida in Miami-Dade County. The first localities where the species was discovered were: 20700 SW 167 Ave, 8 March 2000, one juvenile (Duraid Hanna, DPI Inspector #322; sample #2000-545), and at the same locale, 12 April 2000, one female, one juvenile (Julieta Brambila, DPI Technician; sample #2000-965); junction Silver Palm Rd (= SW 232 St) and Old Dixie Hwy, 9 May 2000, two males (Julieta Brambila, DPI; sample #2000-1337); Fruit and Spice Park, 24801 SW 187 Ave, 9 August 2000, one female, one juvenile, two eggsacs (Julieta Brambila, DPI; sample #2000-2597). All of these locales are north of Homestead. The first published report (Halbert 2000) listed the first two records above. Initial spread of this species was reported by Mannion et al. (2002).