Golden Silk Spider

Golden Silk Spider (Nephila clavipes) is found throughout Newyork,Connecticut and the southeastern United States. The female is distinctively colored, and is among the largest orb-weaving spiders in the country. The female is 25 mm to 40 mm long and has conspicuous hair tufts on her long legs. Males are about 4 mm to 6 mm long, dark-brown, and are often found in the webs of females.

These spiders feed primarily on flying insects, which they catch in webs that may be greater than a meter in diameter. They are most commonly found in forests, along trails and at clearing edges. These spiders are easy to identify by the conspicuous tufts of “hair” on their legs. The silk in these spiders’ webs is the strongest natural fiber known.

Fishermen have been known to combine several webs spun by cousins of the golden silk spiders for use as fishing nets. Biggest spider in this group, female is 10 times bigger than male. It can build a web of 2 – 3 meters in diameter. Silk is the strongest in the world and research is done to use it as an alternative for a light bullet proof clothing.

Life Cycle :one generation per year under field conditions. Adult males are present from July to September, with most females maturing in August. Mature females are found late into the fall, when they make at least two large eggs 2.5 to 3 cm in diameter consisting of several hundred eggs surrounded by a basket of curly yellow silk. Populations in the tropical parts of the range probably produce more eggs, averaged nearly nine eggs.

The finely meshed, large web often 1 to 2 meters in diameter is placed to best exploit insect flight paths above the herbaceous stratum. In webs are found most frequently at edges of forest clearings, alongside forest trails. The hub of the web where the spider waits is located near the top of the web, making an asymmetrical orb. The web is a semipermanent structure, i.e., it is not destroyed and created periodically as is the case with many members of the similar family Araneidae.

Habitat: Gaps, in both terra firme and floodplain forests.

Insecticides: There are many labeled pesticides for spider control. Some are labeled for homeowner use, while others are labeled only for the licensed, certified pesticide applicator.

Control: Sanitation is critical in successful spider control. Indoors, the spiders, webs and egg sacs can be collected and destroyed with a strong suction vacuum cleaner. Move and dust often behind and under furniture, stored materials, wall hangings and corners of ceilings. Eliminate other household pests such as flies, ants and pantry pests, which attract spiders. Be sure to control excess moisture and humidity, keeping basements, crawl spaces, porches as dry as possible.

Outdoors, clean up woodpiles, trash, rocks, compost piles, old boards and other debris around the house foundation where spiders often live. Be sure to seal or caulk cracks and crevices around windows and doors and install tight-fitting screens as needed where spiders can enter the house. Use a hose with high-pressure water on the outside of the house to knock down and destroy webs, egg sacs and spiders. Use yellow or sodium vapor light bulbs at outside entrances to reduce night-flying insects which attract spiders.

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