Nephila clavipes (Golden Silk Orbweaver)
This is the third of three pictures I’m posting for July 30. If you don’t like spiders, you may not want to click on this image. This is probably the biggest spider I’ve seen outside of captivity. It isn’t as big as some tarantulas I’ve seen but they were in terraria. The body of the female golden silk orbweaver can be up to nearly two inches long although this one is probably not more than 1.5 inches. With the legs it’s more like six inches. The male, who was on the web nearby, is less than an inch across including his legs and is not nearly as fearsome looking.
In past years we have found sundews on the ground near the banks of a small pond as we enter the Green Swamp. This year the pond had more water and where we had seen them was covered. I was walking through the trees to the shore of the pond when I nearly walked through this spider’s web. She would not have been happy with me if I had not seen her. Then again, I wouldn’t have been all that thrilled to have her climbing on my head and neck. Fortunately I saw a glint of light on the web just before I hit it.