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Golden Orb-web Spider

Nephila senegalensis

Description:

large brightly coloured spider on a very large gold coloured web. This is a female. Species distinguished by cylindrical brightly patterned abdomen, its large size of around 30mm (body less legs) and its distinctive colour including the bright orange-yellow bands on the legs which separate it from the other 2 Nephila species in the southern african region. The male is similarly coloured but much smaller.

Habitat:

Open bush and also common in gardens, webs tend to be oriented horizontally and may stretch over an area of a few metres between bushes or trees

Notes:

The difference in size between male and females in the garden orb spiders is enormous. The female can have a body mass of up to 1000 times that of her mate

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4 Comments

Smith Zoo
Smith Zoo 9 years ago

The Kruger is currently filled with these beauties!

deborah.kingston3
deborah.kingston3 11 years ago

From the description this Golden Orb seems to be huge and a person might encounter it quite easily. Very pretty.

Ignacio Gamboa
Ignacio Gamboa 11 years ago

Awesome!

Gerardo Aizpuru
Gerardo Aizpuru 12 years ago

Nice series

C.Sydes
Spotted by
C.Sydes

Central District, Botswana

Spotted on Feb 20, 2011
Submitted on Feb 13, 2012

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