Missing Golden Orb

Kelley

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 18, 2017
Messages
3
Hello! For the past two months, I have had a golden orb spider in residence on my screen porch, since she was doing such a great job taking out the flies. This morning, when I went to work, she was eating a fly. 6 hours later, I came home, and web is there, and intact, but no spider. It may sound weird, but I really liked her and am worried. I even named her "Philimena". There's no sign of her anywhere. Do golden orbs move?
 

The Snark

Dumpster Fire of the Gods
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
11,048
Speaking of Nephila assumed. Move, almost never and if they do their web has been repeatedly trashed. Much more likely is she was mated early in the year and went to lay eggs. Or victim of a predator.
 

Anoplogaster

Arachnodemon
Joined
Jan 15, 2017
Messages
675
Hmm..... tough to say with so little evidence. There could be many reasons why a spider would move. Since the web is intact, we can probably rule out the possibility she was eaten. Maybe she got spooked by something? She could've also moved if, for whatever reason, that location didn't seem ideal to her. Wish I could help you more:/ Hope she turns up!

If it makes you feel any better, I used to have a crab spider who showed up on some groceries once. I placed her on a houseplant and she took up residence there. I began feeding her roach nymphs, which she would take greedily:) She even molted once. One day, she disappeared out of the blue. But showed up on a light switch about 3 weeks later! I was so happy to see her:)
 

miss moxie

Arachnoprince
Joined
Jun 13, 2014
Messages
1,804
I had something similar. I had a spider living in my bathroom window for a couple of months, I think some sort of orb weaver but I'm not certain. Never bothered taking pictures. I'd spritz water onto her web and watch her drink the droplets. She'd come out almost every night for me to observe and I thought she might be gravid. A couple weeks ago she disappeared and I wasn't sure what happened to her. Now there are three -teensy tiny- spiders that look a bit like her living in my bathroom windowsill. I'm not sure if these are babies of hers, if she died, moved on, etc.
 

Kelley

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 18, 2017
Messages
3
Thanks, y'all. I found a dead golden orb on the floor under her web on Monday morning, (smaller than her) and didn't even think about mating habits, so please keep your fingers crossed for Philimena and me, as I am fond of her. I may have 1000 grand-spiders soon!!! :)
 

Kelley

Arachnopeon
Joined
Aug 18, 2017
Messages
3
Happy to report, I found her!!!! She is lurking in a corner near the ceiling, above my favorite porch chair. I don't know why I never looked up. Duh. Anyway, very relieved!
 

The Snark

Dumpster Fire of the Gods
Old Timer
Joined
Aug 8, 2005
Messages
11,048
Thanks, y'all. I found a dead golden orb on the floor under her web on Monday morning, (smaller than her) and didn't even think about mating habits, so please keep your fingers crossed for Philimena and me, as I am fond of her. I may have 1000 grand-spiders soon!!! :)
You are going to have to provide a suitable habitat for the slings. Their survival ratio will be in exact proportion to the quality of this habitat. A banana grove with tropical temperature and humidity seems to be the best bet. (Not kidding. In unsuitable environments the sling attrition rate is awful. Often 99%+)
 

Ungoliant

Malleus Aranearum
Staff member
Joined
Mar 7, 2012
Messages
4,096
Since the web is intact, we can probably rule out the possibility she was eaten.
Sadly, that is not always true. These spiders are preyed on by wasps, and a wasp attack can result in little or no damage to the web. (My husband watched as a wasp plucked a juvenile Nephila clavipes from her web and flew off with it, and if he had not seen it happen, you would not have known from the state of the web that there was an attack.)

Sometimes when they deliberately move, they will take all or part of the web down to recycle the silk.

I have also seen them leave the web, make an egg sac nearby, and return to the same web.
 
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