The Nephilidae

Spinning gold
The Golden Orb-web Spiders of South Africa
by Norman Larsen, Associate Arachnologist, Iziko, South African Natural History Museum, Cape Town
LEFT: Female and male (with his legs around the females abdomen) Black-legged Nephilas (Nephila fenestrata) in Kirstenbosch. ABOVE: Female Black-legged Nephila (Nephila fenestrata) in Kirstenbosch. BELOW: Female and male Black-legged Nephilas (Nephila fenestrata) in Kirstenbosch. Photos: N. Larsen. The specific name fenestrata (Latin for windowed) refers to the window-like structure on the ventral side of the abdomen. Banded-legged Nephila Nephila senegalensis Walckenaer, 1842, the Banded-legged Nephila, occurs in KwaZuluNatal, the Eastern Cape and in the northern regions of southern Africa. The specific name is in reference to the type locality. Typically for Nephila, the legs have a brush on the tibia of the first, second and fourth pairs of legs. The blackish legs are banded with yellow. The Banded-legged Nephila has a body length of 2530 mm. Red-legged Nephila Nephila inaurata Walckenaer, 1842, the Redlegged Nephila, occurs in the north-eastern corner of southern Africa. The legs are coloured brown with reddish bands and have no brushes on the tibia. It is a large species with the body reaching a length of up to 35 mm and extending over the spinnerets.

he common name for the Nephilidae spider family as a whole, the Golden Orb-web Spiders, is inappropriate as the only genus in this family to use yellow silk is Nephila the largest and most impressive genus in the Nephilidae. The generic name Nephila is derived from the Greek nen, to spin and philos, love meaning fond of spinning. These spiders are harmless to humans. Four species are currently described from South Africa: Black-legged Nephila (Nephila fenestrata), Red-legged Nephila (Nephila inaurata), Komacs Nephila (Nephila komaci) and the Banded-legged Nephila (Nephila senegalensis). Pending a revision, further species will soon be described. Nephila species occur in tropical to subtropical areas and construct a large vertical, sulphurous yellow orb-web which has the top section missing in adult webs. Juvenile spiders construct complete orbwebs. In semi-social populations, their webs are joined onto the bottom of another Nephila orb-web forming an awesome, almost impenetrable curtain of webs like something from an Indiana Jones movie. These webs are supported by knock down strands of silk in front of and behind the orb-web. Nephilas web is usually supported between two trees and can span enormous spaces even across highways with the orb up to a metre wide, about 1.5 m or more from the ground and is capable of capturing small birds, although there is no evidence that these birds are eaten. Nephila is a diurnal spider (which means it is active during the day) and the females are large, measuring 15-40 mm in length with a leg span of 100-120 mm. The males are only about 5-9 mm with a leg span of up to 25 mm, and is only one thousandth of the females weight. Nephila komaci, found in Tembe Elephant Park in South Africa and in Madagascar, is the largest orb-web spider known.
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The Nephila male, to avoid being eaten by his mate, has interesting mating manoeuvres and copulates with the female while she is preoccupied with feeding. The males of some Nephila species, once mated, will break of parts of their palps (the second pair of appendages on the cephalothorax) sealing the females genital openings. The female Nephila constructs her egg sac on a leaf or tree bark each sac containing 4001500 eggs. There are usually one or two amorous males in the females web as well as one or more tiny spiders with silver triangular abdomens. These are called Dewdrop Spiders of the genus Argyrodes (family Theridiidae) and they clean the orb-webs of prey too small for the host spider. Black-legged Nephila Nephila fenestrata Thorell, 1859, the Blacklegged Nephila, occurs over most of South Africa, excluding the arid central and western regions, and is the only species to occur in the Western Cape. Since 2002 this species has crossed over the Du Toits Kloof/Hottentots Holland mountain ranges and is now the most commonly seen orb-web spider on the Cape Peninsula. It can be seen from January till the end of June or even to the end of August, usually in forested areas or near areas with trees allowing for suspension of their large orb-webs. In Kirstenbosch and Newlands Forest one can easily see 30 or more of these spiders. The female, with a body length of 20-30 mm, is almost entirely black and the first, second and fourth pairs of legs have a brush of bristles on the tibia. The third pair of legs is the shortest with no brush. The abdomen is elongated (long oval) and is cream to yellow with the caudal section (towards the tail end) black or blue with speckles infusing forward into the yellow. There is a huge variation of abdominal patterns with the amount of black or blue on the abdomen.

The orb-weaving family Nephilidae was previously included in the family Araneidae but was separated due to certain morphological differences and the way in which they capture and consume their prey; and placed in the Tetragnathidae. Recently the African genera Clitaetra, Nephila and Nephilengys (Hermit Spiders) were placed in the resurrected Nephilidae by Dr Matja Kuntner, a scientist from Slovenia who is currently doing a world revision of this remarkable family. Spiders in the family Nephilidae first bite prey caught in the web and then proceed to wrap it while the Araneidae and Tetragnathidae first wrap and then bite their prey. Of the African genera within the Nephilidae, Clitaetra and Nephilengys are nocturnal while Nephila is diurnal. Otherwise, the females in all three genera range in body length from 15 mm to 40 mm. They pose no threat to humans.

LEFT: Banded-legged Nephila (Nephila senegalensis). Photo: Charles Haddad. BELOW: A female Clitaetra irenae. Photo: Matja Kuntner. BELOW RIGHT: A female Hermit Spider (Nephilengys cruentata). Photo: Matja Kuntner.

ABOVE LEFT: Nephila fenestrata web. Photo: N. Larsen. ABOVE RIGHT: Female Black-legged Nephila (Nephila fenestrata) with her egg sac. Photo: N. Larsen. LEFT: A juvenile female Black-legged Nephila (Nephila fenestrata) with a Table Mountain Beauty (Aeropetes tulbaghia) prey. Photo: N. Larsen. BELOW LEFT: A female Banded-legged Nephila (Nephila senegalensis) with locust prey. Photo: Julia Kern. BELOW: Red-legged Nephila (Nephila inaurata). Photo: Matja Kuntner.

Komacs Nephila Nephila komaci Kuntner & Coddington, 2009, Komacs Nephila, was only recently discovered in museum collections. Subsequent research has found that it occurs in sand forest in Tembe Elephant Park in KwaZulu-Natal and in Madagascar. On average Komacs Nephila is the largest orb-web spider yet discovered. The female has a leg span of 120 mm and a body length of up to 40 mm. There are no images of live spiders. The legs and palps are a dark red in alcoholpreserved specimens and, as with Nephila inaurata, the abdomen extends considerably beyond the spinnerets. The specific name is in honour of the late Andrej Komac who died in a diving accident.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank Matja Kuntner for his assistance with this article. GET CONNECTED Norman Larsen can be contacted at: avellopsis@ telkomsa.net or visit the website www. biodiversityexplorer.org.za.
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