What is this?

[Pheonixx]

i saw a pic of this on the net...what the heck is it? (i reailze it's a spider)

 

[fusion121]

Looks like a Nephila species to me.

 

[Alex S.]

Nephila clavipes

Yep, Nephila clavipes, the largest orb-weaver (Araneidae) native to the U.S. Awesome species!

Alex S.

 

[jsloan]

Yep, Nephila clavipes, the largest orb-weaver (Araneidae) native to the U.S. Awesome species!

The genus Nephila is in the family Tetragnathidae.

 

[vulpina]

Yes, Nephila clavipies it is indeed an awesome spider.

Andy

 

[Alex S.]

The genus Nephila is in the family Tetragnathidae.

Im not very knowledgeable about orb-weavers in the first place, but I thought Tetragnathidae was a sub-family of Araneidae as Nephila has been referred to in the Araneidae.

Alex S.

 

[jsloan]

Im not very knowledgeable about orb-weavers in the first place, but I thought Tetragnathidae was a sub-family of Araneidae as Nephila has been referred to in the Araneidae.

I'm not an expert either. Tetragnathids may have been a subfamiliy of Araneidae at one time, I don't know, but they are a family on their own now. Nephila used to be in Araneidae, but according to Platnick it's now in the Tetragnathidae family:

http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog/ARANEIDAE.html

At the beginning of the page is a list of genera that were formerly in Araneidae, but have been transferred to other families. I'm not sure why Nephila was transferred. Perhaps because of the elongated bodies (just a guess on my part)?

Platnick is a great resource. A lot of spiders I'd assumed were in one group turned out to be in another.

 

[Alex S.]

Cool, thanks for the update, jsloan.

Alex S.

 

[Mojo Jojo]

Is it me, or is that web golden?

Jon

 

[Pheonixx]

you're the first (besides me) to notice that, i was suprised noone mentioned it. do these spiders make golden colored webs?

 

[Brian S]

I saw some tv show while back that showed certain orb weavers making gold silk. I can't remember which show it was.

 

[Elizabeth]

A common name for this spider is Golden Silk Orb Weaver.