Nephila edulis at WREN Reserves

1 Golden Orb Weaver at WREN Reserves

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Identification history

Nephila edulis	20 Jan 2021	MichaelMulvaney
Nephila edulis	11 Jan 2021	Kyliegw
Unidentified	10 Jan 2021	Kyliegw

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Author's notes

I looked up to see all the cicadas flying around and then saw this mega structure of webs joining the trees together well over my head. And there were all manner of insects in the webs. There were two spiders; a bigger one and a tiny one.

2 comments

MichaelMulvaney wrote:

20 Jan 2021

The females in this species are 8 times larger than the tinchy males. You sometimes get multiple males on a web who are freeloading off the females web catches. You should also look out for small Dew Drop spiders that are in the same family as Red-back spiders and have a shiny silver abdomen reflecting light like a dew drop. They live on the edge of the webs of Nephila species and steal food from their host spiders. This is known as kleptoparasitism.

Kyliegw wrote:

24 Jan 2021

thanks michael. i will keep my eyes more peeled. I am slowly noticing the creatures with better camo gear, but still not seen a snake and its not small at all!

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