Resumen de Nice spiders fall first - and doom the silken reef
On the ecological battlefield, friendly spiders are the first to fall. A new study shows that the behavior of individual animals can determine the fate of entire communities. Most spiders are loners, but Anelosimus studiosus lives in forests of the Americas in colonies of up to 200 related individuals that build communal webs called silken reefs. The reefs attract other spider species and some steal toad and even prey on Anelosimus. As a result the colony usually collapses within a few years. But occasionally, the reef lasts longer, growing to several times the size of a large car and containing more than 50 spider species, says Jonathan Pruitt, an ecologist at the University of Pittsburgh PA
