Spider: Golden Orb-Web

[katydownunder]

Seen in May close to Satara:



I think it is the same Spider.
The first pic was taken around noon and the second on the same day close to gate closing.

[Elsa]

We saw so many of these spiders this Feb trip, Kruger.

These are just 2 of our pics.

[Imberbe]

The males are much smaller and of drab colour.
Uses her web to hunt.
When an insect is caught she will first spin it in to a cocoon, before killing it.
Sometimes the prey is left alive till needed later.

Spins a huge web, up to 75 cm. Has a painful but not dangerous bite.

[Jose]

Imberbe beat me to it... but ja, Argiope australis. They usually also incorporate the most gorgeous stabilimentums in their webs.

[ScorpionKing]

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...

[DinkyBird]

Kruger, March 2009

[Imberbe]

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.

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.

[Magic Guarri]

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



See you in Kruger May 2010!
Karin

[Kingfisha]

Golden orb web spider taken in KNP. On both the pictures you can clearly see the male behind the female (between her back legs).

Large

Large

[Walloceros]

Most of the time you will find dew-drop spiders on these webs.
Look around at the edges of the web, small spiders , silver elongated body (looks like a dew-drop, for camouflage), they scavenge on golden orb left-overs

[Scipio]

Being one of the strongest natural fibres (& man made at that) in the world it is no surprise. I have seen various birds, Bats in Orweb Spiderwebs.

[DuQues]

The largest ever found webs come from a nephew of this spider, Caerostris darwini, a giant orb spider.
These spiders form their webs over rivers, spanning up to 25 meters, and the webs have a surface of around 2.8 square meters.

Read up on it on this page and the links it contains.

[Elsa]

Kruger Feb/Mar 2020

[Ludwig]

Hello,
I need some help to identify this spider.

Seen in April near Matjulu waterhole in the Berg en Dal area.

Best regards
Ludwig

[Karin Mitton]

That is a Orb Web Spider. Trichonephila species. Could be Trichonephila senegalensis with those banded legs.