Florida Golden Silk Orb Weaver Spider Video
Saturday, October 1, 2011 at 5:54PM HD Video of a South Florida Golden Silk Orb-weaver spider mending her large web after a summer storm.
Playing With Florida Storm Spiders
I have mentioned over the last few years that almost every time I’m out chasing and filming thunderstorms in southern Florida, I come across the vivid Golden Silk Spider (Nephila clavipes). These spiders (I’m not an expert on spiders) are most frequently seen in trees, shrubs, powerlines and sugarcane fields here in Florida, well, that‘s where I see them the most.
From my short research online they’re know by several names like The Golden Silk Orb-Weaver spider, Yellow Silk, or Banana spider. Growing up in South Florida I have always known them to be Banana spiders, but not to be confused with the very dangerous Brazilian Banana spider that I have just recently learned about.
The video above shows a large female on her web that got my attention while out chasing storms last week in extreme western Palm Beach County, FL. A thunderstorm had just moved through the area, and I stopped to stretch my legs on this side road, and this is where I noticed the very large spider web backlit by sunlight. I knew when I saw her I had to shoot some video. She was mending to her web that looked to have been damage some by the strong storm winds, so she was very active and worth setting up the tripod and camera to get some close up shots in the drizzle. Kind of creepy for me, but enjoy the short video!
Golden Silk Spider || Note: Weather Video and Pictures are available for Stock Licensing. - Copyrighted © Jeff Gammons
Reader Comments (8)
:) Love your pictures on Twitter, Jeff. Thanks for posting them.