I managed to stop some kids in the act of squashing this massive Orb Weaver this morning.

It's about 5 inches across and is probably a female.

I used to breed Tarantulas and other creepy crawlies as one of my hobbies in the UK - I've decided to keep her for a little while.

They usually eat Moths in the wild - she's already made a web.

When our house is built I will probably relocate her to a nice tree/bush.

I may try and catch a few Cobalt Blues/Thai Blacks next year and see if I can breed a few and release them before they are all caught, fried and eaten

I nearly walked into one of those webs, it was about 6' across. Thanks for putting a name to it.

This is genus Nephila, and certainly a female. Males are much smaller, not to say tiny:

http://frank.itlab.us/photo_essays/wrapper.php?jan_21_2007_nephila.html

(you may look at the 3rd picture)

Erwin

^ a wonderful series of photos...I too almost walked into a web and its mistress strung between two clumps of tall bamboo in the garden of a holiday home in the Punchak Pass area south of Jakarta that we shared with 4 other families on alternating weekends some years ago....normally I am terrified of spiders but this one seemed to have more right to be there than I did...fascinating...

This is genus Nephila, and certainly a female. Males are much smaller, not to say tiny:

http://frank.itlab.us/photo_essays/wrapper.php?jan_21_2007_nephila.html

(you may look at the 3rd picture)

Erwin

Many Thanks

^ a wonderful series of photos...I too almost walked into a web and its mistress strung between two clumps of tall bamboo in the garden of a holiday home in the Punchak Pass area south of Jakarta that we shared with 4 other families on alternating weekends some years ago....normally I am terrified of spiders but this one seemed to have more right to be there than I did...fascinating...

Tutsi did it touch you up as you meandered past?

well...I don't remember screaming as I walked past...quite elegant she was and minding her own business...I spent the rest of the afternoon on the terrace watching her activities from a safe distance...pak Uddin who was in residence as the house boy/supervisor gestured in her direction with a smile and said: 'bagus?' and I concurred...

Edited December 21, 201114 yr by tutsiwarrior

now I'm reminded of that house in the Punchak Pass and it was truly a paradise, precariously perched on the side of an active volcano but that arachnophobes and large spiders could live in peace and with mutual respect... and earthquakes, eruptions, floods and mudslides could carry us all away quite suddenly and I walked hand in hand with my indo girlfriend (a christian that I met in a bar and my same age in our 40s) to the local tea plantation and we fantasized on eternal happiness...

a magical place...with magical spiders...

Edited December 21, 201114 yr by tutsiwarrior

I released it today - the bloody niece and nephew would insist on tapping so hard on the tank that it nearly fell from the web.

No it's much happer in my jungle of a garden