1979] Fowler <& Levi — New Quasisocial Spider 13 
San Lorenzo, Paraguay, approximately 15 km east of Asuncion 
Initial searches confirmed the presence of 5 colonies during Period I 
with 12 additional smaller colonies found during Period II A large 
colony of approximately 550 adults and juveniles, and 50 egg sacs 
was collected and established in a 1 m 3 screen cage on a potted Coleus 
plant within an entomological greenhouse. The following observa¬ 
tions were made on both field and laboratory colonies 
Spinning behavior and webs. The 5 colonies observed during 
erio I ranged in estimated volumes of web enclosures from 0.3 m 3 
to 1.4 m 3 . The 12 smaller colonies observed during Period II were 
much smaller, with the largest having ana estimated volume of 0 2 m 3 
The web periphery of all colonies was covered with loosely spun silk! 
while the interior consisted of densely spun silk platforms Webs 
housing the colonies did not differ from the webs of A eximius 
figured by Millot (1949) and Brach (1975), or from the webs of A 
rupununi illustraded by Levi (1972). Additional webs of unspecified 
colonial species of Anelosimus are illustrated in Stejskal (1976). 
The remains of many large insects, notably cerambycid, carabid 
and scarabaeid beetles, were observed throughout the web structure. 
Portions of the web of the larger colonies had apparently fallen into 
disuse, as these were cluttered with dead vegetation and insect parts 
as described by Millot (1949). Dead or dying leaves in the interior of 
the communal web were curled and sheathed with silk to form 
retreats Stejskal (1976), in a still unconfirmed report, contended that 
unspecified species of Anelosimus pierce the epidermis of the 
undersides of mango, citrus and coffee leaves and actively imbibe the 
cytoplasm, and further hypothesized that these species would not 
survive on other species of trees. More observations on the feeding 
behavior of these spiders are obviously needed to check the validity of 
these claims. The colony figured by Brach (1975). was not located in 
these plants. He observed no dead leaves, perhaps because spiders 
were not piercing and drinking from the leaves. 
Citrus trees housing all 5 colonies during Period I were heavily 
attacked by mealybugs, Pseudococcus sp., which were tended by 
ants, Crematogaster quadriformis vezenyii Forel. The distribution of 
both mealybugs and ants reached the colonial web on the branches 
where the colonies were located. Many mealybugs, and a few ants 
were found entangled at the branch-web interface. No abnormal fruit 
or leaf developments were noted within the communal web, with the 
exception of the dead and curled leaves serving as retreats. Stejskal 
