Mystery spider
Hi there Bugman.
I spotted this 7″ – 8″ spider while I was travelling through Malaysia a couple of years ago. I believe it to be some kind of golden weaver because of the very visible colour of the silk in the photo, which I was told by an Australian guy who knows about spiders. I would love to more about this particular genus of spider as I’ve had no luck in finding matching spider images on the net.
Kind regards
Daniel Kemp
Hi Daniel,
This spider is in the genus Nephila, the Golden Silk Spiders. We believe this is a female Nephila clavata, the Golden Orb Web Spider, which we have identified in Korea and also ranges in China. If not Nephila clavata, it is a closely related species. The silk truly does look golden in your photo.
I work on an island off North Mozambique and we have one of these spiders as a resident here. She is very big and beautiful, exactly like the picture above.