News Animals

One bold, misinformed spider slows a colony’s ability to learn

Wrong-headed notions prove more dangerous in certain personality types

colonies of velvet spiders

ONE BOLD IDIOT  In colonies of velvet spiders (shown), one bold spider with misinformation can be a disaster.

BernardDUPONT/flickr/(CC BY-SA 2.0)

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The wrong-headed notions of an influential individual can make a group sluggish in learning from its mistakes, even among spiders.