Spider "fishing" for termites

A group of student researchers from the University of Iceland and the University in Antananarivo (Madagascar), led by dr. Ingi Agnarsson (University of Iceland) and dr. Matjaž Gregorič (Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Slovenia), have published a new study documenting the hunting behavior of the Malagasy endemis spider Vigdisia praesidens. This species specializes in feeding on termites and displays an unusual hunting strategy that resembles fishing.

By experimentally damaging termite nests in Madagascar's rainforests, the researchers observed that spiders rapidly arrived at the site, apparently attracted by chemical signals released during nest disturbance. The spiders first constructed a silk scaffold around the damaged nest and then captured termites in two ways: by flicking sticky silk at exposed individuals along the hole edge or by casting silk into the nest cavity to snag termites hidden inside.

The study also revealed that the spiders successfully capture both worker and soldier termites, despite the soldiers' powerful chemical defenses. The researchers suggest that the spiders may evade termite detection through chemical mimicry, a hypothesis that future studies will investigate.

The findings expand the known distribution of Vigdisia praesidens by more than 500 kilometres across eastern Madagascar and provide the first detailed description of its remarkable predatory behavior. The study further highlights the complex interactions among spiders, termites, and kleptoparasitic ants that exploit the system.

Gregorič, M., Guðmundsson Gaehwiller, A., Sigurðardóttir, E. A., Siméon, F., Magnússon, S. B., Karlsdóttir, S., Björnsdóttir, S. H., & Agnarsson, I. 2026. Predatory behaviour of the spider Vigdisia praesidens on Nasutitermes canaliculatus termites during nest repair. Arachnology 20: 682–687.

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