Do Segestria Florentina (Tube Web) Spiders attack one another?

[AnnaB]

Hi

I seem to have a growing colony of tube web spiders around my house - a couple of years ago I had none, now I spot them often.

Last night I got home to find a dead one hanging by its silk thread over my front door. It looked like it was in a strike pose, so it must have died very suddenly. Then, about 10 inches away from it I spotted another tube web spider, larger and very much alive.

Can anyone tell me if the two are likely to have fought with one killing the other or if this is mere coincidence? The smaller of the two, which is still a decent sized specimen, is still hanging on the thread this morning and very much intact. It doesn't look like anything has attempted to eat or mutilate it.

Any thoughts appreciated, I'm perplexed.

[Meta menardi]

If we take the points of your question one by one, yes, spiders are very aggressive and will attack others of the same species. The result will be death of one or both spiders, usually. Secondly, as tube web spiders rely on immobilisation rather then tangling in a web, the venom of these spiders is probably quick acting. Thirdly, there is no reason that I know of to suggest that a winner of such a combat wouldn't consume the loser, though the winner may be replete fom consuming other prey.

You will notice that all three parts of the answer are qualified by a "probably" or some such term. Spider behaviour is not well documented in many cases, your observations may raise a question that no-one else has got round to asking, let alone systematically investigating. You could be the one to start the ball rolling. Observe your growing colony, the answer might be there for you to find.

[AnnaB]

Thanks for the help. Interestingly, after observing the dead spider more closely there was some definite damage to the abdomen.

I take your point on spider behaviour, I am fascinated by them and watch them often, but am often unable to find information I want online.

[nightshade]

We have many of these spiders. One morning I found one just hanging by a claw on the porch wall, it was a very large and impressive spider but it had been nipped at the abdomen. I assumed a bird (as several roost under the porch) but I will be watching them a little more closely.
I have just been outside for a quick look and without trying there are two dozen tubes and all the ones I can reach easily have a large occupant.
Thanks for starting this thread, Anna.

[AnnaB]

I can say with absolute certainty that no birds come near my front door, so for the situation I found that couldn't have been a cause. It definitely happened whilst it was dark, so I have to assume it was a nocturnal creature that did it.

I have several of these spiders now around the frame of my front door where the brickwork is worn away and damaged, but I also know I have hundreds of tegenaria gigantea that also live in the holes in my walls and it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish the webs.

[nightshade]

I do have some (rather poor) photos of the damage but have awful trouble posting photos. If you would be interested I could e-mail them, just for confirmation that the damage is the same.

[AnnaB]

Thanks, I'd love to have a look. I did manage to get one photo of mine, but it was the next day, the spider had lost most of its colour and was starting to disintegrate in the wind.

Feel free to send me any of your photos though, it'd be interesting to see if it looked similar.