Taiwanese spider

dbur · Post by **dbur** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 12:49 am

This supposedly venomous (apparently almost all snakes and spiders in Taiwan are venomous) spider was in a web about 4 ft overhead. Taken hand held against a flat bright sky with my EF24-105 at max zoom and on camera fill flash. This is as good as I could do under the circumstances. Haven't seen a spider quite like this before. It's about 1.5-2" across with legs extended.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 3:54 am

Quite a colorful little spider, the red spot suggestive of our Black Widow.

zkogut · Post by **zkogut** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 7:13 am

Cool pictures! It looks almost identical to an Golden Orb Weaver Spider. They have ones in North Carolina that are big enough and have strong enough webs to eat birds! But your spider only kinda looks like it. I have no idea what it actually is.

christerb · Post by **christerb** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 10:54 am

Very nice pics. Maybe Nephila clavata?

Regards,

Christer

dbur · Post by **dbur** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 11:44 am

christerb wrote:Very nice pics. Maybe Nephila clavata?

Regards,

Christer

I think you nailed it. From the google pics and location it's very similar. Maybe a little bit different body shape and leg markings, but a close cousin for sure.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Thu Apr 24, 2014 3:43 pm

They have ones in North Carolina that are big enough and have strong enough webs to eat birds!

A number of years back, I was out on a hike. Off in the distance and a good distance it was, I noticed something quite large between two tall trees, against a clear blue sky. Curious, I pulled out of my pack a pair of Pentax field glasses to have a look. To my amazement and almost horror, because I have a phobia when it comes to spiders, there between those trees was the biggest spider that I had ever seen.

Orb weaver? Maybe, dont know but it was big!