Nephila clavata / golden orb weaver / Mudang Spider
Hi,
I did a bit of hunting round this year to try and find the name of an interesting spider I see frequently in Korea (see attached photographs). It turned out to be the Nephila clavata or golden orb weaver, common to Korea and Japan. I stumbled across you site recently. Someone asked what the Korean name of this spider is and what it means. The Nephila clavata or golden orb weaver is called a
or "mudang gumi" in Korean (I have attached a .jpeg file of the Korean text in case your computer cannot read Korean). This means, roughly, "fortune teller spider" or "shaman spider". "Mudangs" are Korean fortune tellers, usually female, who use the time, day, month and year of one’s birth to make predictions or assess the compatibility of a couple before marriage..
Regards,
H.L.
Hi H.L.,
Thanks for the fascinating account of this marvelous spider.