[3] In South Africa its distribution ranges from KwaZulu-Natal province in the east, then westwards to the provinces of Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Gauteng and North West in the north, and Eastern Cape and Western Cape in the south.

Palystes spiders will often enter homes before rain, where they will prey on geckos (usually Afrogecko porphyreus in Gauteng, the Western Cape, or Lygodactylus capensis in the eastern parts of southern Africa).

[6] After mating in the early summer, the female constructs a round egg sac about 60–100 mm in size made of silk, with twigs and leaves woven into it.

[1][4] An experiment was done in 1959 where a Palystes superciliosus was allowed to bite an adult guinea pig on the nose.

The guinea pig died within 7 minutes, leading to a belief that the spider's venom was dangerous.

[4] The Pompilid wasp species Tachypompilus ignitus is at least largely a specialist hunter of mature Palystes females.