Nephila pilipes

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Nephila pilipes
Northern Queensland, Australia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae Suborder: Araneomorphae Family: Tetragnathidae Genus: Nephila Species: N. pilipes
Binomial name
Nephila pilipes (Fabricius, 1793)
Synonyms
Aranea longipes Aranea maculata Aranea pilipes Aranea sebae Epeira chrysogaster Nephila maculata Nephila fuscipes Epeira fuscipes Epeira doreyana Epeira caliginosa Nephila ornata Epeira penicillum Epeira harpyia Nephila chrysogaster Meta ornata Nephila pecuniosa Nephila aurosa Nephila procera Nephila sulphurosa Nephila tenuipes Nephila submaculata

Nephila pilipes is a species of golden orb-web spider. It can be found in Japan, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, India, Papua New Guinea, and Northern Australia. It is commonly found in primary and secondary forests and gardens. Females are large and grow to a body size of 30-50mm, with males growing to 5-6mm.

The Nephila pilipes' web is vertical with a fine irregular mesh and not symmetrical, with the hub is usually nearer the top. Rather than egg sacks being hung in the web, a pit is dug which is then covered with plant debris or soil.

The first, second and fourth pairs of legs of juvenile females have dense hairy brushes, but as the spider matures these brushes disappear.

[edit] Subspecies

• Nephila pilipes annulipes Thorell, 1881 (Indonesia)
• Nephila pilipes flavornata Merian, 1911 (Sulawesi)
• Nephila pilipes hasselti (Doleschall, 1859) (Java)
• Nephila pilipes jalorensis (Simon, 1901) (India)
• Nephila pilipes lauterbachi (Dahl, 1912) (New Guinea)
• Nephila pilipes malagassa (Strand, 1907) (Madagascar)
• Nephila pilipes novaeguineae (Strand, 1906) (New Guinea)
• Nephila pilipes piscatorum Vis, 1911 (Queensland)
• Nephila pilipes walckenaeri (Doleschall, 1857) (Java)

[edit] References

• A Guide to Common Singapore Spiders
• Colourful Orb-Weaving Spiders
• Nephila of Southern Africa
• Golden Orb Weavers