Spiders in the Mist - Golden Orb Spider Guest Post

This is a guest post by Grant Marcus. You can view the original post as well as photos by Grant Marcus on his website, www.grantmarcus.com 

SPIDERS IN THE MIST

We left this morning at 6:00am with a mist cloud hanging all around us. These conditions gives photography a whole new angle. With the mist you only realise then the amount of spiders around you. All the webs are draped with droplets of water. Sometimes it is nice to photograph the smaller things in life. These big spiders are called Golden orb spiders. They make use of a very big web to catch their prey.

The big black and yellow spider is the female and the smaller one at the top is the male. Quite impressive don’t you think ? The Golden Orb spiders are from the genusNephila and are widespread all over the world. The genus name Nephilas derived from the greek word meaning Fond of spinning.

The name of the spider comes from the colour of the web and not the spider. The golden colour serves as camouflage in shady areas to trap their prey more efficiently. In sunny areas the golden colour attracts bees to the web…..very clever !

The chain of debris from the remains of victims serve as a cue to birds not to fly into the web. It has been photographed where small birds have been eaten by these spiders. They have very mild neurotoxic venom and is injected with big fangs that is like hypodermic needles. The venom has the same effect as the black widow spider but not nearly as toxic. Due to the big chelicera the bite can leave scars on areas like the fingers.  There are quite a few uses for the web and one interesting one is where fishermen collects big amounts of webbing and roll it into a ball. They then throw the ball into the water where it unfolds and serves as a cast net to catch bait fish……. How did they figure that one out.?????

In Japanese folklore they believe that the genus Nephila can shape change into a seductive woman. Well that is just a bit of back ground information about these wonderful spiders. That is just another thing you can explore while on safari. It is not always necessary to only worry about seeing the big 5. Everything you see ads to the experience of being out in the wilds of Africa.

 Read more about wildlife and safaris on The Game Lodge Index