The April Spider of the Month (SOTM) is this two-tone stegodyphus velvet spider (Stegodyphus bicolor; Eresidae), photographed by Adele Cranz on Farm Isabis in the Gamsberg area in Namibia.
Adele says that they make a nest almost every 3 m at her home. This one made her nest on the underside of a gutter. In the previous month, another photo of hers ran for SOTM of the male and female together.
This species, originally described from Namibia by O. Pickard-Cambridge (1869) as Eresus bicolor, occurs only in South Africa and Namibia. In South Africa they occur in the Northern Cape in the Desert and Succulent Karoo biomes. The species is protected in the Augrabies National Park.
There are 19 described Stegodyphus species in the world. They mostly occur in Africa, and six species are recorded from Southern Africa. Of these 19 species worldwide, only three are considered social as adults, namely S. dumicola from Southern Africa, S. mimosarum from sub-Saharan Africa, and S. sarasinorum from South and Southeast Asia. The rest are all solitary and can therefore not be called “social velvet spiders” or “community-nest spiders” and it’s best to just call them stegodyphus velvet spiders.
The name Stegodyphus originates from the Greek word stegos, meaning covered, probably due to the spider almost constantly being covered in a silk retreat. The specific epithet, bicolor, means “two colours” or “two-toned”, mostly from the black/brown and white male, which looks very different from the female.
This is Adele’s first SOTM. From 188 people who voted, her photo received 124 (66%) of the votes. Congratulations, Adele, and thank you to everyone who voted!