Data from: Physical and social cues shape nest-site preference and prey capture behavior in social spiders

Animals often face conflicting demands when making movement decisions. To
examine the decision process of social animals, we evaluated nest site
preferences of the social spider Stegodyphus dumicola. Colonies engage in
collective web building, constructing three-dimensional nests and
two-dimensional capture webs on trees and fences. We examined how
individuals and groups decide where to construct a nest based on habitat
structure and conspecific presence. Individuals had a strong preference
for three dimensional-substrates and conspecific presence. Groups were
then provided with conflicting options of three-dimensional substrates vs.
two-dimensional substrates with a conspecific. Groups preferred the
three-dimensional structures without pre-settled conspecifics over a
two-dimensional substrate with conspecifics. When a group fragmented and
individuals settled on both substrates, the minority group eventually
joined the majority. Before rejoining, the collective prey capture
behavior of divided groups improved with the size of the majority
fragment. The costs of slow responses to prey for split groups and weak
conspecific attraction may explain why dispersal is rare in these spiders.