Golden Orb spider

At least, that's what I think this is! I'm certainly not an expert on spiders, but I looked it up.

Anyway, what's important is that this is the same spider in both images. The first image (left) was taken on 21 November 2007, and the second (below right) today, 10 January 2008.

Come to think of it, I can't be absolutely positive that it is the same spider. The web is certainly in the same place, and I have been able to observe it almost every day, so I think that it is the same spider.

The Golden Orb spins big webs in the flight path of insects. Obviously, the flight path around this web is fairly busy, because she (more about sex later!) has certainly grown in the past seven weeks. Captured prey are either eaten immediately, or can be saved for later by being wrapped in silk cocoons until needed. You can see some of this spider's larder in the background of the image on the right.


And this is how they do it. The image left shows this spider wrapping a bee for later consumption. This whole wrapping action was completed in only a couple of minutes, so they can certainly get that thread out quickly. This picture was taken on 12 December, or about half-way between the top two images.

I read that the females are larger than the males, and that they can grow up to 45mm in length. The males usually inhabit the same web, and I have seem a smaller spider scurrying around the web occasionally.

I am guessing that this female will soon be laying her eggs, which will be wrapped in silk and probably placed somewhere on the outer perimeter of the web. Her abdomen is looking fairly round now, instead of the more oblong shape of the earlier photos.

EXIF: Nikon D200; Micro Nikkor 105mm; various exposure combinations. All lit with Nikon's macro lighting setup, the R1C1.

TFF