Interactions between spiders (Araneae) and their prey

Spiders (Araneae) are predators utilizing many strategies for hunting their prey. Their diet is often extensive. To obtain food, many various interactions occur among the spiders, and some species are not even afraid to hunt over other spiders. In the first two chapters, I describe the environment of spiders. I focus on the basic classification of spiders, following by an overview of the most important families in Central Europe and their division into the weavers of different types of cobwebs, and spiders who do not hunt through the webs but have a similar style of hunting, in hunting groups (guilds). Further on, the work deals with intraspecific interactions between spiders, such as competition, cannibalism or cooperation that influence the success in hunting prey and consequently the success in survival of spiders. In the last two chapters I deal with the interactions in the framework of the hunting groups, and between different hunting groups that affect other species of the ecosystem and are a driving force in shaping animal communities