They tend to seek out decaying, atmospheric spots, the paper umbrella spiders. Arachnea parapluviosis mixtrunca, the stumpish umbrella spider, is no exception. It resides—or perhaps once resided, since it appears to have vanished since its first sighting in 2016—in the old brickworks of Herzele. The appearance and subsequent disappearance of a massive tree stump may have played a role. The stump umbrella spider depends on old, rotting trees for its survival. They feed on these trees, though it remains unclear how they digest the wood without also consuming themselves, given that they are also constructed from wood and cardboard. Certain is that they use the wood to build their nests, much like paper wasps.
When his doctorship von Leverkühn discovered the stumpish umbrella spider at the brickworks, the nest was still in its early stages. The spider foraged widely in the surrounding area, although no distinct umbrella spider paths in the tall grass had yet been found. This is unsurprising, as the stumpish umbrella spider—like many species of paper umbrella spiders—blends seamlessly into its environment and is a master at concealing its presence. The inattentive passer-by would fail to notice it and might even easily trample it. The similarities between its lifestyle and that of certain social insects are striking, but drawing any definitive conclusions would be far too premature given the current state of knowledge.
