Golden Silk Spider, Banana Spider, Golden Silk Orbweaver (Nephila clavipes)

Order: Araneae (ah-RAY-nee-ee) (Info) Family: Tetragnathidae Genus: Nephila Species: clavipes Profile: 9 positives 2 neutrals No negatives Regional... This bug has been reportedly found in the following regions: Blue Mountain, Alabama Mobile, Alabama (2 reports) Vincent, Alabama Wetumpka, Alabama Atlantic Beach, Florida Cheval, Florida East Lake, Florida Gainesville, Florida Kissimmee, Florida Lake Butler, Florida Lake Wales, Florida Live Oak, Florida Oldsmar, Florida Orlando, Florida Saint Cloud, Florida South Daytona, Florida Tallahassee, Florida Titusville, Florida Wauchula, Florida Williston, Florida Deenwood, Georgia Rincon, Georgia Cankton, Louisiana Chackbay, Louisiana Hammond, Louisiana Lafayette, Louisiana New Orleans, Louisiana Vienna, Louisiana Latimer, Mississippi Moss Point, Mississippi Pascagoula, Mississippi Pope, Mississippi Vicksburg, Mississippi North Topsail Beach, North Carolina Wilmington, North Carolina North Charleston, South Carolina Pawleys Island, South Carolina Summerville, South Carolina Beaumont, Texas Conroe, Texas Houston, Texas Mesquite, Texas Roman Forest, Texas (2 reports) Santa Fe, Texas Member Notes: Rating Author Comment Neutral princessnonie On Aug 1, 2006, princessnonie from New Caney, TX (Zone 8b) wrote: Females are among the largest Orb Weavers in the United States. The web is large and golden and often at the edge of woods. A bite will produce localized pain at the site, said to be less severe than a bee sting. Positive Sheila965 On Aug 6, 2006, Sheila965 from Rincon, GA (Zone 8a) wrote: I absolutely LOVE banana spiders. I've been wanting one since we moved to our new home 3 years ago. They are amazingly fast! They are great for bug control. I understand they will bite if threatened but I've never bothered them. I just enjoy watching them. Positive FloridaG8or On Jan 23, 2007, FloridaG8or from Lake Butler, FL (Zone 8b) wrote: This is by far my favorite spidar! Every spring our yard explodes with these guys. I have never known them to be "Golden Silk Spiders," just Banana Spiders. I have no complaints with these little guys, every web in our yard usually has house flys, and other pests. When I was a kid, my friends and I thought it was cool how the back of their head looks like a skull. (A little too much detail) we thought that is where they got the spiders from in Zelda-Ocarena of Time. (Told you too much detail) Neutral nick89 On Mar 11, 2007, nick89 from Tallahassee, FL (Zone 8b) wrote: Enormous spiders! Can not believe the size difference between the two sexes (the female is much larger). Their webs are also huge. Seem to be very common in all of Florida. Positive Two_and_a_cat On May 18, 2007, Two_and_a_cat from Titusville, FL wrote: These are way cool critters. They are the only spiders I've come across that will create "colonies" of many webs. They are amazing... and of course, pretty big- at least the females... you can easily miss a male! They can eat some big prey... another natural pest control vector... we love 'em! Positive DebinSC On Jul 31, 2007, DebinSC from Summerville, SC (Zone 8a) wrote: I've found at least a dozen of these around our yard this summer, mostly with webs strung between large azaeas and pine trunks. Their webs are very large and I have seen females that are at least 2..5" in size. Beautiful to look at. As spiders go, fairly benign and they trap other pests, so I rated them as positive. Positive zibdi On Sep 9, 2007, zibdi from Sneads Ferry, NC wrote: Very interesting spider. A bit intimidating, with its size and being up higher than our head. Very large web strung between a few trees. Positive BUTTONS_MAMA On Jun 2, 2008, BUTTONS_MAMA from Mobile, AL wrote: I heard that these predict hurricanes; if there is one coming they will pack up and leave about a week before. Needless to say, I leave them alone, mainly to see if it is true. Positive aamaazon On Jul 14, 2008, aamaazon from Ruston, LA wrote: This Golden Beauty moved onto my back porch last nite or this morning; probably due to the rain storm we were having. Today was my first time ever seeing such a spider so of course I came online right away to see who this magnificent creature was. Awesome! Mother nature always has a miriad of surprises! I'm not a bug watcher, but I've always allowed spiders to live in and around my house because it's their job to take care of the bugs and keeps me from breathing all those pesticides. Hope you enjoy the marvelous picture I found online of her and her mate. Positive ashvlgrl On Aug 3, 2009, ashvlgrl from North Charleston, SC (Zone 8a) wrote: My neighbor and I each have at least 10 of these beauties each in our yards. She teases my because I can't get to my spiders well enough to take good pictures so I snap hers. The only problem that I have with these guys is that they attached webs to the front 1/2 of my husband's riding mower while we were out of town. I hated to do it, but I had to tear the webs down. They've already moved to the other side of the shed, though! This is the first year I've had them, but my neighbor has them every year. Right now the largest one is at least 6" in diameter (including legs, of course). I've also heard that they've been known to catch small bats and birds in their webs! Positive kscha On Aug 21, 2009, kscha from New Caney, TX (Zone 9a) wrote: I noticed this spider a few weeks ago. It spun a huge web between my house and a large oak tree. I noticed last night that she moved her web to a spot between the same oak and the chain link fence. She is BEAUTIFUL! Catches lots of bugs and even my pesky wasps. Her body is probably two inches long. Will be posting a pic shortly.

By Floridian By kennedyh By princessnonie By princessnonie By Floridian By Two_and_a_cat By Two_and_a_cat There are a total of 38 photos. Click here to view them all!