About Neoscona moreli (Vinson, 1863)
Neoscona moreli (Vinson, 1863) is a species of spider belonging to the family Araneidae. Its common name is Morel's grass Neoscona orb-web spider. This species has a very broad global distribution, with confirmed records from the Afrotropical Region, Cuba, and Argentina. Within Southern Africa, it has been documented in Botswana and South Africa; in South Africa specifically, it is present in all nine of the country's provinces, and occurs in more than ten protected areas across an altitude range from 12 to 2,020 meters above sea level. Neoscona moreli is a very common grassland-dwelling species. It constructs its orb web at night, and removes the web early each morning. Individuals have been sampled across six South African biomes: Forest, Grassland, Indian Ocean Coastal Belt, Nama Karoo, Savanna, and Thicket. The species has also been collected from avocado, pecan, and pistachio orchards, as well as cotton, lucerne, maize, and tomato agricultural fields.
