Golden Orb Weaver

Nephila pilipes

I'm so glad I took this shot on my way to work this morning as it was one of just a few that I took all day.... 12 hour day number 3 (roughly anway!) 6 bears anaesthetized and 4 to go! Another tricky anaesthetic this morning with Scrumpy - males are never easy are they?!

Anyway... this beautiful orb weaver spun her web beside my bungalow stairs several days ago now... pretty much begging to be blipped! So today she is the star of the show. I found this little bit of information about their breeding habits online which I hope is correct!

The male is many times smaller than the female, some are 1,000 smaller! There are suggestions that it is not a case of the males being dwarves, but the females being giants! The male is so tiny that he can live on the female's web, stealing her food, often without her even noticing him. She may not even notice that he has crept up and inseminated her! Nevertheless, just to be sure, he usually does the deed when she is feeding. In some, mating can take up to 15 hours! The female lives only slightly longer than the male.

I am having withdrawals from the bear enclosures.... must really try and get over there at lunch time tomorrow!