Very large mommy and babies (?) in Ocala FL area
Mon, Dec 29, 2008 at 5:41 PM
Hello! Love your site!!
Last summer, we where driving across FL and stopped in Ocala at a large truck stop. This mommy and what I believe was a baby or siblings had a HUGE web built behind a BBQ stand. The biggest was about 6″ end to end and the smaller (in the second picture) was about 4″ long. Can you identify them (so we know if we should avoid them in the future) 🙂 Or just take cools pics from afar.
Lauren in NPR FL
Ocala FL
Hi Lauren,
Your assumption that this Golden Silk Spider was tending to her young is understandable, but incorrect. The large female Golden Silk Spider, Nephila clavipes, dwarfs her mate by being as much as 100 times his mass. Golden Silk Spiders are not dangerous, but we imagine that they might bite if threatened, but there would be no lasting effects of the bite beyond local pain and swelling.