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We saw golden-orbs everywhere next to the roads by Olifants. They are really impressive early in the mornings.

Although I cannot see the picture I seriously doubt that the spider is Nephila inaurata simply because of the locality. It's probably Nephila senegalensis, just like all of the other Nephila in this thread.

N. inaurata occurs more towards the East Coast of southern Africa all the way up north. It's a tropical species occurring in moist humid vegetated areas. The information on N. inaurata is pretty much the same for most members of Nephila. Good Stuff!

Something that is cool to do with Nephila. I was at Singita Lebombo late in the spider season.... May I think. Because it was the end of their annual lives the females were laying their egg sacs, then dying. If you ever see an empty, broken web with no spider, follow the supporting lines up to the nearest bush, tree of bit of vegetation. You'll often find a ball of loopy white silk. This is the spiders egg sac.

If you look at their webs towards the end of the spider year (Dogs have Dogs year, so Spiders can have Spider years). Look in webs and you'll see the female (hard to miss) and much smaller spiders (often with legs missing) (Shame) around the periphery of the web. These are the male spiders lurking in wait for the right time to sneak down and mate. Disturb the female and she usually retreats to an upper most corner of her web. Disturb a male and he usually drops out of the web on a strand of silk. The female is not of medical importance even though they can give a nasty bite that leaves a small scar.

You'll also find Argyrodes sp. spider (Dew drop spiders) in the females web. These spider feed from what the female has caught. They are silvery in colouration and look like "drops of dew" or mercury (not the planet, but the metal). There are also "spider flies" that are known to hang around these webs. These flies land on the spiders mouth parts while she is feeding. The flies then suck the liquid that is produced while the spider is feeding. Much like a fly would suck drool out of our mouths when we are eating an exceptionally yummie slice of chocolate cake. (You get the point...)

The yellow silk is not really special, it is just synthesised out of silk glands that produce yellow silk. The webs are know to catch small birds and bats.

Next time you see one of these webs have a closer look. You may just find more than you expect...

Kind regards

Jonathan

Jonathan

Seen between Skukuza and Croc Bridge.

Photo taken at Tshanga lookout in KNP .
I had not realised that they could attach their web to rock .

I would be interesting to know what method it physically employs to attach them , and is the web material from a different organ than the silk web material , or is the manufacturing process different ?

Kruger, March 2009

Thats a beautiful photo Deebs!

Great pictures Deebs.
btw, the golden orb also spin their webs in the entrances to the birdhides.
Had to duck at Lake Panic and Sweni.

Can anyone enlighten me as to above question ?

Nice photo Ndloti!

Spiders are fascinating creatures! And their silk is really interesting.

Inside the spiders abdomen (at the back) there are silk producing glands. Spiders may have up to eight such glands, which may produce several different types of silk. Each gland produces a specific type of silk. These glands open in to spinnerets just before the anus. These spinnerets are highly mobile tubes. They are paired and there may be two or three pairs, depending on the species. These spinnerets places the silk.

Some spiders have a further spinning organ called a cribelum, which enables them to produce and spin incredibly fine silk.

Silk is actually a form of protein which is produced in a liquid form. When it leaves the body, it goes through an acid bath, which transforms it in to a solid when entering the spinnerets.

As mentioned, many different types of silk can be produced for different uses. Some are incredibly strong and others delicate, some are sticky and others not. It depends on the intended use.

Your photo shows the anchor lines of a web that is stuck to a rock, with the appropriate form of strong silk. Clearly the ends is a form of sticky silk, fixing it to the rock. Any human would be awarded a Nobel prize for developing such an incredible technology! The same basic strategy can be used to fix the web against a tree trunk, branch or even a plane of glass.

Many different forms of webs are created by spiders, depending on their habitat and hunting strategy. Yet, incredibly, the majority of spiders do not use a web to catch their prey. Some indeed only use silk as a construction material, to build or line their nest. Yet, the presence of silk is a defining character of spiders.

Imberbe , thank you for your most interesting input .
I have on a few occasions accidentally walked into these webs , and have experience of how strong they are , and have seen a bird that was caught in one such web .
What interested me as well was exactly how rigid the webs anchoring point to the rock was when I carefully tested another apparently unoccupied web nearby .

I spent the last 20 years in the small village of Cato Ridge, 45 minutes drive from Durban. I grew up with these spiders on the farm.

Now I live in a complex, and it's not a farm. I found a spider that moved under my roof gutter - I left her there as I know these spiders are simply wonderful (parents taught me to never kill them, not matter how freaky or scary they are).

I have had her for the past 6 months or so and I have wanted to relocate her into the bush knowing this place isn't suitable (being close to other houses). I deliberately kept on putting it off since it's winter and I thought she would not have babies.

I thought wrong. Last night I had a look and there's a whole horde of baby spiders all over the web. I was shocked. How can she have laid eggs and they hatched in winter...

Now I have a dilemmma on my hands - I really need to move all of them. Is there anyone that can help me move them? The old man and his wife next door aren't environmental friendly - the old lady is stupid and goes outside with a can of doom, sprays under her flower pots (says it's because of the ants). I really need help on this - one day I will be moving to Durban once my job is finalised and I don't want any harm to come to her.

Welcome to the forums!

Uploading is easy, have a look at the Flickr or the Tinypic way.

Here is also a beautiful Banded-Legged Golden Orb-Web Spider



See you in Kruger May 2010!
Karin

At my home, March.