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Project Noah Nature School
Nephila pilipes
AKA the Northern Golden Orb Weaver, these spiders are one of the biggest spiders in the world. The females can grow up to an impressive 20 cm in length! Interestingly, instead of egg sacks being hung in the web, Golden Orbs dig a pit, which is then camouflaged with plant debris or soil.
Subtropical mountainous area, hot and humid, thick brush and trees, close to running water.
The female featured in this series of photos was about 13 cm, and boy was I shaking when I was shooting her. I did try to find information about what the yellow globules are on the web, but didn't find anything about it. Anyone know the reason for that?
Spotted on Oct 10, 2015
Submitted on Oct 16, 2015
3 Comments
Hi, Wesley! Hmm...I am a mixture of those too except for Spain. I live in Bradenton, Florida, USA.
I am wondering if you teach English there....
Hi there! Yes, a very large spider. I've seen bigger here, but this was the closest to me and in the best light that I've found so far. Golden orbs seem to favour blending into their backgrounds and this choose darker areas out of direct sunlight to do so...well at least that seems like the trend here in Taiwan.
I'm from South Africa, but am a mixture of English, Irish, Welsh, Dutch, German, French and Spanish.
Where are you located?
Ni hao, Wesley! Thanks for following me! Very nice shot here! Amazing spider! Very big! Are you from the Netherlands, South Africa or Taiwan? :) I have one ancestor from the Netherlands! It is fun to see the animals from Taiwan! :)