May 3, 2014

Golden silk Orbweaver

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Kingdom: Metazoa ((=Animalia) multicellular animals)
Phylum: Arthropoda (arthropods)
Class: Arachnida (spiders, harvestmen, scorpions, mites, etc.)
Order: Araneae (spiders)
Family: Tetragnathidae (longjawed orbweavers)
Genus:
Species: Nephila clavipes
Common Names: Golden Silk Orbweaver, Golden Silk Spider, Banana Spider, Calico Spider

Nephila clavipes Click on each picture to display the larger, higher-resolution image.
All photographs are copyrighted by their photographers.

Nephila clavipes - This female spider died in her web a few days before this image was taken. On, we carefully took her out of her web (she was only hanging by one leg by that time), took her home, and placed her directly on our scanner to get these detailed images. The full-sized images we have of her on the site (this dorsal view and the ventral view below) are each 3400 x 4600 pixels. While these images are quite large, they display the details quite well. This spider measures 23mm in body length and 100mm from the tip of one of her foremost legs to the tip of her opposite hind legs. Photo contributed by Josh Hillman

Nephila clavipes - This is the ventral view of the same spider in the above photo.

Nephila clavipes - The large spider in the middle of the photo is a female; a much smaller male can be seen in the upper-left corner of the photo.

Nephila clavipes - These are the same spiders as in the above photo.

Nephila clavipes - This substantially smaller male was one of two found in the same web as the large female in the above photo.

Nephila clavipes - (juvenile)

Nephila clavipes - (female) dorsal view, poised in center of web.
Tom Brown Park

Nephila clavipes - (female) This is the same spider as in the above photo.
Tom Brown Park

Nephila clavipes
Tom Brown Park

Nephila clavipes - silhouette
Tom Brown Park

Nephila clavipes - (female) ventral view, near morning glories (Ipomoea purpurea). Note the thick, extremely strong, golden dragline silk at the top of the web as well as other support lines in front of the main orb.

Nephila clavipes - These eggs were laid and wrapped in golden silk, attached to an office window pane a few inches from the bottom of a female's large web, also in front of the same window. This photo was taken from inside, through the glass a few days after she laid the eggs.