Madagascar Golden Orb Spider (Nephila madagascariensis)

A fairly common spider across Madagascar, large to very large, producing spectacular webs, sometimes communal webs.

comments (7)

Claire Hamilton

Lion

We get these in South Africa too. Did you know that the male is miniscule and of course, she eats him!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_silk_orb-weaver
This page shows a icture of a cape made from the silk of the Madagascar orb spider. Incredible! Posted 12 years ago, modified 12 years ago
1. Ferdy Christant
  
  Lion
  
  True, I believe this is a sub specie of the "family" page you're linking to. Poor male spiders :) Posted 12 years ago
2. 1. Barry
    
    Lion
    
    Actually, the whole female eats male thing in some insects actually makes evolutionary sense. In many of these species, the male's penis breaks off after sex thus blocking the female to any further mating attempts and thus ensuring that the offspring will be his. Now without his "crown jewels", so to speak, he loses any sense in life and often just hangs listlessly around the web - so the female eats him, I mean, why waste good protein?! Posted 8 years ago
  2. 1. Ferdy Christant
      
      Lion
      
      I did not know this about males blocking the female from other offspring. Guy had it coming. Posted 8 years ago

Barry

Lion

Heh Ferdy, after looking at a number of my Golden Orb-weaver photos, I think that I can help with this one and that we can actually add the species ID. Nephila madagascariensis is not accepted by everyone and Wikipedia (and others) currently give it as a subspecies, correct species is Nephila inaurata, subsp. madagascariensis. However, as with birds, many of the Madagascar types are considered seperate species by some but not by all authorities (Madagascar Hoopoe, Malagasy Stonechat, etc.) so it really is up to you. I still find it amazing that in this day and age of DNA science that the experts still don't agree about what is a species and what isn't. But let me know what you decide, I am going to upload mine soon . . . Posted 8 years ago
1. Ferdy Christant
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks, Barry. I have re-identified to the main species, without the sub species.
  A word on species versus sub species at JungleDragon: the system does not recognize these two levels, it will consider both a main species and a sub species separate species entries and they will also each get the species introduction. So feel free to take the sub species for your photo. Posted 8 years ago
2. Ferdy Christant
  
  Lion
  
  By the way, regading your DNA remark: I read an interesting article that explains how complicated it really is to distinguish between species:
  https://medium.com/the-philipendium/how-many-kinds-of-living-things-are-there-df9a78385fb6 Posted 8 years ago

The Red-legged golden orb-web spider

The red-legged golden orb-web spider (Nephila inaurata) is a species of golden orb-web spider. It lives in Southern Africa and several islands in the Indian Ocean (Madagascar, the Seychelles, Réunion, Mauritius, Rodrigues). Like other spiders in the family Nephilidae it can weave webs so strong that sometimes even birds and bats get caught. Its webs can be found in damp places such as large trees and unpolluted areas to which no cars have access; normally several are strung together to form enormous.. more

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Similar species: Spiders

Species identified by Ferdy Christant