Common Rain Spider

Palystes superciliosus is recorded from Namibia, Mozambique, Eswatini, and South Africa. In South Africa, the species has a very wide distribution throughout all provinces and occurs in more than 10 protected areas. Notable locations include Kruger National Park, Ndumo Game Reserve, Polokwane Nature Reserve, De Hoop Nature Reserve, and Swartberg Nature Reserve. The species occurs at altitudes ranging from 1 to 2,785 m.

Palystes superciliosus is a very common species and is commonly found in houses. They usually enter houses before rainy spells. Their large egg sacs are made attached to vegetation. The species has been sampled from all the biomes except the more arid biomes. They were also sampled from cabbage, avocado and macadamia orchards. Its preferred habitat is scrubland and savannah woodland. Spiders in the genus Palystes are commonly called rain spiders, or lizard-eating spiders. Palystes spiders will often enter homes before rain, where they will prey on geckos (usually Afrogecko porphyreus in Gauteng, the Western Cape, or Lygodactylus capensis in the eastern parts of southern Africa). Males are regularly seen from August to December, probably looking for females.

The legs of these spiders can reach a length of 11 cm, while their bodies alone can reach a length of 4 cm. Interestingly, both sexes of these spiders are roughly the same size. After mating in the early summer, the female constructs a round egg sac about 60–100 mm in size made of silk, with twigs and leaves woven into it. These egg sacs are commonly seen from about November to April. The female constructs the sac over 3–5 hours, then aggressively guards it until the spiderlings, who hatch inside the protective sac, chew their way out about three weeks later. …