the giant wood spiders

Giant Wood Spider, nephila pilipes [formerly known as nephila maculata]. If you consider the female of this species and the webs they build, yes they are giants but if you look at the males, you will say they are tiny! Anyways, many of you know that female spiders are usually much larger than their male counter parts.

Female in the centre, with yellow coloration, and you can spot the male on the top right fringe of the web, with a red coloration. [Clicking on the image will give a larger picture]. Females are large and grow to a body size of 30-50mm, with males growing to 5–6 mm. Giant Wood Spider females weave the biggest webs in India. The web can be from 1 to 2 meters in diameter. So you can guess how large the the web is!

giant wood spider, nephila pilipes, male and female, india

We spotted this web far high up between the trees. The distance, the light coming in, and foliage behind made it difficult to capture the web along with the spider, but thanks to the DSLR, we were able to capture a descent shot.

Date:  27 Sept 2007
Location: @ Bhoothathankettu, Ernakulam, Kerala, India
Camera: Nikon D80 + Tamron SP AF90mm f/2.8 Di Macro Lens

36 Responses

  1. Venu says:

    can we post pictures here?

  2. Marlin says:

    hey i too have one similar shot of a spider and web on orkut…

  3. Harsh says:

    if u come in Pune Uni u find lots of These GIANT WOOD SPIDERS hanging here & there

  4. Harsh says:

    nice photo

  5. Kanak says:

    Hi Rocksea! That web is beautiful! I clicked on the picture to see the details…loved every bit of it. I checked out your other spider pics too. Your photos are gorgeous! I recognized some of them.

    I did grow up with a mild bout of arachnophobia:) But ever since I started photographing these beautiful creatures, my feelings towards them have changed.

    • rocksea says:

      oh Kanak, I am happy that you liked the spider pics 🙂 Yes, spiders are wonderful to observe, study and photograph! Lot to learn and get amused from nature!

      Roxy

  6. Andy says:

    Wow what artwork this spider created! Great shot.

  7. rocksea says:

    thanks mridula, solilo, laura, swaram and joshi for the commets 🙂

  8. beautiful! the bokeh is also amazing!

  9. eeeeeeeeeeeeek! Spiders again… 🙁

    there was a report in the newspaper a couple of years back that they found a rare poisonous spider somewhere in Agastyarkoodam. It bit a hapless old coconut climber when he was at work.. jeez, the description of that spider gave me shivers, it still does!

    I dont love spiders, no no…

  10. ohh..female power!!! btw, how do u identify the spider species?
    i was mad about ‘bird watching'(literally) some time back..i used to identify them from Salim Ali’s Book of Indian Birds

    • rocksea says:

      Flyaway, there is a “spiderindia” yahoogroup which shares information on spiders.

      For birds, there are a lot of Indian websites and email groups catering to the identification, ethology etc. One of the guidebooks I use is “Birds of the Indian Subcontinent” by Inskipp and Grimmett, which I feel is very useful. The Salim Ali book should be enough for a beginner. Just spend some initial time for identification of the common ones you see around, and then it should be easy 🙂

  11. Swaram says:

    Gr8 shot! DSLR rocks na!

  12. First I should appreciate for spotting it from your building ! You make me curious to spot creatures in my backyard !

  13. beautiful contrasts, great shot!

  14. vempally says:

    Yes, they are the great engineers.
    good pic.- pls check also: http://www.flickr.com/photos/abeypalamattam/

    • rocksea says:

      dear vempally, i had gone through your flickr galleries! just that i dont login to flickr often, to comment. i love the designer wear bug, and other photos you have taken 🙂

  15. Abhilash says:

    NIce photo roxy…

    I did not know how to categorize spider genders untill now… This was really informative. I killed 5 spiders yesterday since they built web in my bathroom…

    Dont worry I paryed to have their soles rested in peace… 🙂

    • rocksea says:

      What a lovely (?!!) reply when i am trying to spread some spider love :-O Yes the bathroom spiders can be scary. Or how else would you peacefully carry out the essentials at the toilet!

      • Abhilash says:

        Yes Roxy, you said it right.

        when a disturbance in the essentials then no way… aaakraman…

        Hey! what do you think a bite from which type of spider could lead to become a spiderman… any idea…

        Do you know any way to mae that spider bite…?

  16. Solilo says:

    Oh! that’s a beautiful shot.

  17. bindu says:

    It’s a great shot, except for the back light. But the web is in sharp focus, and I love spider webs and photographing them!

  18. Mridula says:

    Beautiful, I can see why you talked about concrete jungles and missing such things!

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