Review of the spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) as prey of the mud-dauber wasps in Gauteng and Limpopo

Spiders are preyed on by a wide variety of creatures, such as mud-dauber wasps of the family Sphecidae. They are namedafter the multi-chambered nests they construct of mud or clay. Mud nests serve as brooding rooms for their larvae. From eight waspnests, a total of 219 spiders were sampled, and the average per nest varied from 10 to 44. The Araneidae was most sampled (48.4%),followed by the Thomisidae (25.1%), Oxyopidae (13.2%) and Salticidae (5.9%). Neoscona subfusca (38.8%) was the species most preyedon. A greater number of immature individuals (70.1%) were collected compared to adults.