Excellent images, particularly as you captured top and bottom views.
There are two very similar species of nephila; vitiana and antipodiana. Both species are known for color polymorphism and exist in several forms. I found two documents that discuss this, one for each species.
The color morphs look the same for both species and I suspect that both species could be the same, but that is just my opinion. Here are the documents:
In the first document; page two, paragraph two, is a discussion of the differences between the two species. Based on this and what I have in my image folders, I believe that this spotting is nephila antipodiana. Vitiana has yellow knee joints and a red carapace on the underside.
Have a look at the documents and see what you think :)
8 Comments
Excellent images, particularly as you captured top and bottom views.
There are two very similar species of nephila; vitiana and antipodiana. Both species are known for color polymorphism and exist in several forms. I found two documents that discuss this, one for each species.
The color morphs look the same for both species and I suspect that both species could be the same, but that is just my opinion. Here are the documents:
Vitiana http://www.scribd.com/doc/118270252/JOST...
antipodiana http://academia.edu/346160/Abdominal_col...
In the first document; page two, paragraph two, is a discussion of the differences between the two species. Based on this and what I have in my image folders, I believe that this spotting is nephila antipodiana. Vitiana has yellow knee joints and a red carapace on the underside.
Have a look at the documents and see what you think :)
Dave
Very beautiful Nephila...
Wow, elegant Nephila.
I think ChunXingWong is right.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/118270252/JOST...
Dave
This could be a Nephila vitiana but I am not sure.
Wonderful spotting, sianakdesa. I agree with kyrontf about it possibly being a Nephila species, and I have moved the spotting to Arthropods. :-)
Bello color:: agradable a la vista::genial
Gorgeous photos! Looks like something in the genus Nephila.