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The golden silk orb-weavers (Nephila) are a genus of araneomorph spiders noted for the impressive webs they weave. Nephila consists of numerous species found in warmer regions around the world. They are also commonly called golden orb-weavers, giant wood spiders, or banana spiders.
The web can run from the top of a tree 6m high and up to 2m wide. Unlike other spider webs, the Golden Orb Web Spider's web is not dismantled often and can last several years.
Designed to catch large flying insects, the web is slightly angled. It is not a perfect wheel and is usually off-centre. To make its web, the spider releases a thin thread into the wind. When it catches on something, the spider walks along it trailing a stronger non-sticky thread. It repeats the process in the centre of the line to form a strong Y-frame. Around this, it spins the rest of the web out of sticky capture silk.
The silk is so strong that it can trap small birds, which the spider doesn't eat. These trapped creatures often destroy the web by thrashing around. To avoid such damage, the spider often leaves a line of insect husks on its web (like the safety strip across glass doors!); or builds smaller barrier webs around the main web.
The male is many times smaller than the female, some are 1,000 smaller! There are suggestions that it is not a case of the males being dwarves, but the females being giants! The male is so tiny that he can live on the female's web, stealing her food, often without her even noticing him. She may not even notice that he has crept up and inseminated her! Nevertheless, just to be sure, he usually does the deed when she is feeding. In some, mating can take up to 15 hours! The female lives only slightly longer than the male.
Spider from Spider Pavilion Natural History Museum. Los Angeles. California.
The great thing about Banana Spiders is that they like to stay in the same spot. As long as they aren't disturbed, you can go back for weeks and find the same spider, although much bigger, every time.
I never realised a spider web was this complicated!
Isn't it wonderful to find out new things all the time!! :-)
Photos: Jean
We've had a bit of rain recently which made the spider webs in our garden look nice. Golden Orb weaver.
Golden orb spider taken at London Zoo’s spider house. . Shot on an Olympus E-PL3 with Pentax -M 100mm f4 macro lens
Borneo. Kinabatangan River, Sabah,
Nephila pilipes is a species of golden orb-web spider. It can be found in Japan, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Singapore, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, Papua New Guinea, and Northern Australia. It is commonly found in primary and secondary forests and gardens. Females are large and grow to a body size of 30–50 mm (overall size up to 20 cm), with males growing to 5–6 mm. It is one of the biggest spiders in the world.
Source: Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephila_pilipes
Stretching between flowers in the gardens, the web of the Nephila or Golden Orb Spider. The venom of the golden silk orb-weaver is effective in action on prey, but has not been reported to be of any notable consequence for humans if accidentally bitten. In the literature, Nephila is one of several genera where the venom "must be considered as more or less ineffectual in human beings".
Not yet full-sized, but certainly respectable. Starting to build her strong web in the flight path of local insects.
Golden Orb Spiders (Nephila plumipes) are common in south east Queensland bush, parks and gardens commonly suspending golden webs between trees high above the ground. This almost adult female (almost 20mm long body) with a slender abdomen yet without mature eggs suspended herself in a windy building gap right beside my back door. Blobs in the web are captured carcases, stored or devoured. The web itself is fairly permanent but this one shows signs of repair, the typical strategy.
The golden orbs are back in the garden. And it is a dilemma - should I leave them a bit longer or should I harass them into moving (into someone else's garden).
For those who don't know much about golden orbs, these are big spiders with very large webs - good from the point of view of the photographer, for once you have found a web or two they stay more or less in place for months or if they move it is easy to find them again. But having the garden filled with these webs makes going in the garden a nerve wracking experience. The thought of accidentally walking into the web and one of these falling on me is not nice!! Their webs are reputed to be strong enough to capture small birds.
Oh no, it is happening again, someone is filling my computer with spider photos. You can see some of them in the comment box below eg the female and her consort or what the golden orb puts in its lunch box. Maybe putting a few up here will make that person stop ...
( I made a collage the last time some person filled my pc with spider photos. I have put it at the end in case you missed it and are interested in the story. )
Kingdom=Animalia
Phylum=Arthropoda
Class=Arachnida
Order=Araneae
Suborder=Araneomorphae
Family=Nephilidae
Genus=Nephila
Species=edulis
Binomial name=Nephila edulis
common name=Golden Orb Female
Egg number four laid 21Aug2015
Female Nephila plumipes and web caught in the morning sun. Above her in the patchy web is a recent kill. Older victims are wrapped in web and lined up in her larder at the right.
You will see lots of webs close together. Not that I want them crawling on me, but I wasn't using my long lens for these shots, so I wasn't very far from the spider to get this close up. This is why I was able to get good web shots, which I usually can't. Many more spider photos to come.
Taken near the window outside the Mossman Gorge Centre in Queensland Australia in 2017.
The 'Golden Orb Web Spiders', Nephila spp. are among the largest of the spiders to build aerial webs usually with their legs spread out and head pointing downwards.
Golden Orb Web Spiders are very common in the Daintree, especially after some summer rain.
Kasane, Botswana
I was amazed at the speed at which this spider moved, once the poor dragonfly hit the web... Within minutes the prey was immobilised and wrapped in a tight cocoon of silk.
Thanks for taking the time to stop - I really appreciate your faves and comments.
the female golden orb has food parcels scattered around her web, She grabbed this parcel while I was watching: it looks like it contains a fly or two, hung until needed. She ate them in front of me er in front of whoever took this photo.
Taken at the window of the Mossman Gorge Centre in Queensland Australia in 2017.
The 'Golden Orb Web Spiders', Nephila spp. are among the largest of the spiders to build aerial webs usually with their legs spread out and head pointing downwards.
Most specimens of Golden Orb Web spiders observed are the females. This is because the Nephila genus has the biggest size difference between females and males of any spiders, with the tiny males sometimes being seen in the web.
Golden Orb Web Spiders are very common in the Daintree, especially after some summer rain.
Summer is when all the Golden Orb Weaver spiders build their webs near our deck and therefore I have a great view of them.
Explore Aug 3, 2009 #76
The right moment! The right light! And this usually dull-gray-web was brilliantly lit! And there was its creator, in glowing gold and black, I spanning it assertively.
I love how the light is highlighting the silky rest of the web radiating out from this lacy interior, probably created as a storage site. Each little spun area no doubt holds a tiny insect for eating later. Another theory is that the zigzig prevents birds from flying into and destroying it.
Take a look at this in medium size so you can see all the smaller web lines.
The Garden Spider can be identified by the construction of its web. It is the only spider that makes a zigzag line or cross of zigzag white web lines. Garden Spiders are large, beautifully colored and not venomous.
Orb Spider, Biscayne Park, FL
I think this is the same spider I've posted images of before; she has just moved to a less disturbed spot. She is currently looking very fat, so she must be eating well on the bees she catches.
This Nephila edulis spider has constructed a web between shrubs in my Gold Coast hinterland home garden. Its body length is about 15mm and longest span about 70mm. There is a male lurking well away which has a leg span of about 10mm. The female is about half grown and its rate of growth is quite fast. My guess is maturity in a couple of months. The handsome female makes a striking image on a dark night.
Nephila plumipes with myriad tiny spiders in her web. They are not offspring; they are hidden well away from the web. Their 5mm size indicates they are probably males of the same species. In other words, this female has an abundant supply of suitors. This is fortunate for the species because the female also has a voracious appetite for suitors who make an advance with poor timing.
Our resident Golden Orb spider is now the size of my hand. She has been with us for sometime now, but soon she will lay her eggs in the ground and die. I must admit, these are the only spiders that I can admire. Still would not want to have her crawl all over me though.
We've had a bit of rain recently which made the spider webs in our garden look nice. Golden Orb weaver.
bloody yuk..i hate spider's but intrigued to see this one hanging above one of the fish tank's..its housed in there..
The Golden Orb are large spiders which weave enormous pigmented webs, adjusted in color for camouflage, with protecting chemicals, and such incredible strength and elasticity that bioengineers and other scientists are studying ways to mass-produce their silk.
The golden silk orb-weavers (genus Nephila) are noted for the impressive webs they weave, and are also called giant wood spiders or banana spiders,. Their name refers to the color of their web silk, although the female spiders do have gold spots on their large bodies and black and yellow striped legs, which are specialized for weaving.
The spiders are widespread in warmer regions around the world – the Americas, Australia, Africa, India and Southeast Asia. They are the oldest surviving genus of spiders, with a fossilized specimen dating to 165 million years ago. You can find golden orb spiders hanging out in their shimmering
Threads of their webs shine like gold in sunlight. Studies suggest that the silk’s color may serve a dual purpose: sunlit webs ensnare bees and other insects that are attracted to the bright yellow strands, and in the shade, the yellow color blends in with background foliage to act as camouflage. Golden orb spiders can adjust the web’s pigment intensity relative to background light and color. They also secrete a chemical – pyrrolidine alkaloid – on the strands that protects the web from ants.
The fine-meshed spiral webs are gigantic: they can span 20 feet tall (6m) and 6.5 feet wide (2m). When you look at a web, you can’t help noticing the female spider since she is huge; golden orb females reach sizes of 4.8–5.1 cm (1.5–2 in) not including leg span. Those little spiders on the web are the males, being usually 2/3 smaller (less than 2.5 cm, 1 in).