|
|
Compare Species
?
|
|
|
Spinning Spiders |
|
|
|
|
|
|
8-Eyed |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Genital Plate |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Spiders |
|
|
|
 |
|
Arachnids |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jointed Feet |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Molting |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mouth First |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Two-Way Symmetry |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
True Higher Animals |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Animals |
|
|
|
 |
|
Cells with a Nucleus |
|
|
 |
|
 |
Nephila
Genus |
|
|
|
| Location / Where this Creature is found: |
Brazil
Nephila spiders vary from reddish to greenish yellow in color with distinctive whiteness on the cephalothorax and the beginning of the abdomen. Like many species of the superfamily Araneoidea, they have striped legs specialized for weaving (where their tips point inward, rather than outward as is the case with many wandering spiders). Their contrast of dark brown/black and green/yellow allows warning and repelling of potential predators to whom their venom might be of little danger.
Golden orb-weavers reach sizes of 1.5 to 2 inches in females, not including legspan, with males being usually 2/3 smaller (less than 1 inch). The largest specimen ever recorded was a 2.7 inch female N. clavipes (which is now debated to have been a new yet undocumented subspecies) from Queensland, that was able to catch and feed on a small-sized finch.
| General information about
Golden Orb Spider : |
Nephila means "Love of Spinning", referring to the webs that they weave. They usually remake their webs every day.
AKA: golden orb-weavers, giant wood spiders, banana spiders, Golden silk orb-weaver.
Noted for the impressive webs they weave.
The name of the golden silk orb-weavers refers to the color of the spider silk, not the color of the spider itself.
The spider is able to adjust pigment intensity relative to background light levels and color; the range of spectral reflectance is specifically adapted to insect vision.
As with many weavers of sticky spirals, the orb is renewed regularly if not daily, apparently because the stickiness of the orb declines with age.
Golden Orb Weavers are known to occasionally eat prey as big as small birds.
N. clavipes (and many other Nephila species) are frequently victimized by Argyrodes, a genus of very small black-and-silver spiders that are kleptoparasitic. As many as a few dozen may infest a single Nephila web to feed from the host spider's captured prey.
Some nests near fruits may repel known pests as the fruit fly without the need to use insecticides.
A unique cloth woven from golden silk of over 1 million golden orb female spiders is on exhibit in the American Museum of Natural History.
Fishermen on coasts of the indopacific ocean remove Nephila webs and form them into a ball, which is thrown into the water. There it unfolds and is used to catch bait fish.
Male Golden Orb Spider
|
Golden Orb Spider
|
Golden Orb Spider closeup
|
Golden Orb Spider
|
Golden Orb Spider
|
Female and male courtship
|
Golden Orb Spider
|
Female Golden Orb Spider
|
Golden Orb Spider with Mate
|
|
|
|
