Came across these spiders again on our plot. They are colorful and beautiful to behold.

Does anyone know what they are called?




the below photo will show three of them occupying the same web, this is the first time I have seen more than one in the same web?

iclazion wrote: Came across these spiders again on our plot. They are colorful and beautiful to behold.

Does anyone know what they are called? ...

Golden orb weavers, Nephila species. The ones in the New World are Nephila clavipes, the golden orb weaver, and found from the "Sun Belt" of the USA all the way south into Argentina. Other species inhabit Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Australia, and (of course) Africa. Huge, relatively docile. Not dangerous. They're large enough to bite if handled roughly, but the bite isn't serious.

iclazion wrote: ... the below photo will show three of them occupying the same web, this is the first time I have seen more than one in the same web? ...

I've heard of several of them temporarily occupying the same web for a while, or at least building webs extremely close to each other, especially where their population densities are high and there's not a lot of vacant real estate for them each to have a separate web. But, they're not considered truly communal because they apparently don't cooperate in prey capture, and do occasionally cannibalize each other.

I almost forgot! Google image Nephila for a really good photomontage of Nephila photos.

Consider yourself very fortunate to have these on your property. Great spiders! Great photos!

@Stanley A. Schultz
Thanks for the information

The irony being I am a bad Photographer, but it would seem lady luck was on my side today . I also think the timing and lighting, just before sun set allowed me to capture the colours of these Golden orb weavers perfectly. The photo's was taken inside my dad's "60+ Stella Lorikeet's cages" and I have found lots of spiders there, as they pray on insects that are after the nectar porridge or fruits, so I hope they won't cannibalize each other, as there are enough fruit-flies and other insects.

Looks like Nephila inaurata madagascariensis
Go check out this website for the Nephila of SA: www.spiderclub.co.za/Docs/SCSA_Nephilidae_SA.pdf