Above: Crab Spider on a Moraea inconspicua

Some plant-dwelling spiders are only 3mm in size, and are considered the ‘cuties’ of the spider world. Take a close look at their very endearing eyes, which make them particularly gorgeous subjects for macro-photography.

Above: Crab Spider with fly prey

Other plant dwellers include the Rain Spiders, the large spiders that often creep into your house before it rains. Despite their size, don’t be frightened of this species: they are shy, and would much rather run away than hurt you. Join me in getting to know some of the plant-dwelling spiders of Renosterveld.

PLANT DWELLERS

Oxyopidae: Lynx Spiders

This is a small genus with a global distribution. They do not make use of webs or retreats, although some species will hang from a dragline attached to the underside of a leaf. These beautiful spiders received their common name because of the way they hunt: they often catch prey with their legs by jumping into the air and catching insects in full flight.

Some genera are limited to living on a single plant species, others may have adaptations, such as long hairs (setae) on their legs, to enable them to blend in with the spikey grasses on which they hide in wait of passing prey. The female does not carry her egg sac around, but instead fastens it to a twig or leaf, where she guards and defends it.

Above: Lynx Spider, Oxyopes sp.

Salticidae: Jumping Spiders

Some of my favourites, the ‘cuties’ of the spider world, are the Jumping Spiders, belonging to the family Salticidae (hence known affectionately as ‘Saltis’ by spider fans), the largest family of spiders in the world, with over 350 species (and counting!) known from South Africa. They vary in size from 3 to 17mm and are active hunters. Some have particularly noticeable bristles in the eye region, giving the impression that they have long ‘eye-lashes’, thus making them extremely endearing. They often move fast and can be difficult to photograph but make beautiful subjects for macro-photography.

Above: Jumping Spider or ‘Salti’ Thyene inflata eating eggs, mostly likely belonging to an insect. 

Above: Jumping Spider, Baryphas ahenus

Above: Jumping Spider, Rhene konradi

They do not make webs, but they do build nests in which to moult or lay eggs. They may even make use of such nests to mate or simply as a retreat during times of inactivity. The Jumping Spiders are in fact divided into three groups: hoppers, runners and intermediates. They are diurnal hunters with two noticeably large eyes (the other six are smaller) with complex retina which gives these incredible creatures unique resolution abilities found in no other animal of equivalent size. They detect and capture prey by means of stalking, chasing, leaping and lunging (or a combination of these methods).

Above: Jumping Spider Langelurillus namibicus, a very rare and poorly documented species in SA. 

Above: Jumping Spider, Evarcha denticulata

Above: Jumping Spider, Dendryphantes sp.

Above: Jumping Spider, Heliophanus sp.

Above: Jumping Spider, Menemerus sp

Sparassidae: Huntsman & Rain Spiders

This is a family of free-living spiders, most of which are found on foliage, while a smaller proportion of them live on the ground. They do not make webs, but some make use of a silk-lined retreat or burrow in which to hide when not active. Most of the species in this group are active, nocturnal hunters. The ‘Rain Spiders’ Palystes spp. are the most encountered in houses, where they often appear a day or two before it rains (hence their common name); they come inside to hunt by making use of the lights which attract insects. They are one of our largest spiders and are well-known for the large, cocoon-like egg sacs which they construct amongst the vegetation.

These spiders tend to strike fear into people, mostly because of their size, but like all spiders, these are shy and do not want to bite. They will, however, raise their front legs in warning if they feel threatened and if taunted further, may bite (their bite is painful, but not medically significant). The smaller and very beautifully marked Arid Rain Spiders Parapalystes sp. are the most commonly-encountered in Renosterveld.

Top left: Typical rain spider nest. Top right and above: Palystes or Parapalystes sp.

Above: Palystes sp., gravid female

Thomisidae: Crab Spiders

This large and diverse family is made up of free-living spiders, most of whom are found on plants, with only a small number living on the ground. These attractive spiders come in a variety of patterns and colours (from bright colours such as pinks, green and yellows to white, dark brown or grey). They do not make webs or retreats but hide under vegetation or debris when not active.

Above: Crab Spider, Oxytate sp.

Crab Spider, left: Monaeses cf.pustulosus, right: Thomisus citrinellus with bee prey

They have evolved as expert ambushers and as a result have lost their agility and become sedentary, mostly moving with a sideways gait. This gait, combined with their two longer sets of front legs and their almost comical stance is responsible for them receiving their common name ‘Crab Spider’. The most frequently encountered genus in Renosterveld is Thomisus, the brightly coloured Crab Spiders which can change their colour to that of the flower from which they are ambushing prey, enabling them to surprise and capture unsuspecting flies and bees which visit the flowers.

Above: African Mask Crab Spider, possibly Synema sp.

Trochanteriidae: Scorpion Spiders

These spiders look a lot scarier than they are; they are free-living wanderers, found under bark or stones. They do not build webs or retreats. Very little is known about these unusual spiders whose flattened bodies are an adaptation to living in narrow crevices. As intimidating as they might appear, Scorpion Spiders are not medically significant.

Above: Scorpion Spider, Platyoides sp.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank you National Lotteries Commission of South Africa for their assistance with the purchase of additional camera equipment to support the ORCT’s photographic work. A big thank you to Astri Leroy for checking this piece for correctness and teaching me a lot! My sincerest thanks to the Spider Club of South Africa for their fantastic Facebook page, led by a group of passionate spider experts and members who are only too willing to give of their time to identify photographs and answer peoples’ questions. I highly recommend joining this club and / or following them on Facebook: www.spiderclub.co.za or Facebook: @theSpiderClubOfSouthernAfrica.

This year we celebrate the launch of the UN Decade of Restoration. The main aim of this call to action is to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems around the world. As one of the world’s most biodiverse and yet threatened ecosystems, the Renosterveld of the Overberg deserves our focus around this.

South Africa is internationally mandated to conserve Critically Endangered ecosystems such as Overberg Renosterveld, that have suffered extensive habitat loss and have relatively little still surviving.

It is often said that ecological restoration is needed in areas where so much of a threatened vegetation type has been lost that national and international goals for conserving a certain percentage of a vegetation type are otherwise impossible to meet.

However, ecological restoration is challenging to undertake in Renosterveld vegetation, where small surviving patches of vegetation are now surrounded by high value productive agricultural lands.

Furthermore, once Renosterveld has been ploughed multiple times, changes in soil structure and loss of its original range of habitat niches mean that its former levels of habitat biodiversity have been lost forever.

Above: Moraea debilis

However, we can restore Renosterveld through management interventions that improve the habitat condition and conservation value of what vegetation still remains.

The Overberg Renosterveld Conservation Trust (ORCT) is doing just this through an innovative project funded by WWF South Africa.

This work builds on two different projects that have been previously undertaken by the ORCT, namely the WWF Nedbank Green Trust Watercourse Restoration and the Table Mountain Fund Conservation Easement Project.

A conservation easement is a conservation servitude which encompasses a whole property to ensure conservation in perpetuity of Renosterveld vegetation there. This agreement is written into the title deeds of the farm and runs with the land from one landowner to the next one.

Landowners on a property with a signed conservation easement can access additional support for conservation of the Renosterveld over which they are custodians. Support available can include assistance with fire management, control burns and post fire monitoring, alien clearing and regular monitoring of flora and faunal biodiversity.

This project, primarily funded by WWF South Africa has provided additional support in signing up additional Renosterveld under conservation easements and thus growing the percentage of Overberg Renosterveld that can be conserved in perpetuity.

Furthermore, it has provided additional funding for ongoing management needs of existing conservation easement sites. This ensures that landowners who have joined the programme continue to engage with conservation action and restoration activities on their land.

Those considering signing conservation easements have also been encouraged to join the programme by following in the footsteps of conservation success of those who have already done so.

Through this work being undertaken in Overberg Renosterveld, vital habitat is secured for conservation alongside implementation of key management interventions within the Overberg Wheatbelt Important Bird Area.

This helps to conserve and improve habitat for threatened birds such as the Black Harrier, Secretarybird and Southern Black Korhaan, as well as the many other endemic species found here, such as Cape Spurfowl, Greywinged Francolin, Agulhas Longbilled Lark, Agulhas Clapper Lark and others.

One of the key restoration interventions of the project has been to significantly reduce the footprint of and impact on Overberg Renosterveld of invasive alien Acacias such as Port Jackson (Acacia saligna). This has been achieved through mapping priority infestation sites and then implementing alien clearing work.

One of the main threats facing Overberg Renosterveld vegetation is overgrazing by domestic livestock. Overgrazing causes long term decreases in species richness and diversity in these ecosystems, and optimal grazing management is key to avoid further degradation of Renosterveld vegetation that may be irreversible.

One of the main solutions to this project has been through supporting passive restoration of overgrazed veld and reducing the likelihood of overgrazing taking place by providing financial support to farmers to put up fencing at key conservation easement sites to facilitate best practice livestock grazing management.

In some cases, such interventions are combined with implementing an ecological burn, which also restores old, degraded vegetation to its former glory, if undertaken correctly and protected from livestock post-burning.

Over the last three years, through the support of WWF South Africa we have been able to significantly expand the conservation footprint in Renosterveld in the Overberg, conserving more hectares of Renosterveld in perpetuity. We have also been able to support willing and passionate landowners in their efforts to conserve and manage their veld in reaching their conservation goals.