Nephila madagascariensis
I touch my silk and listen
to it’s faint taut song –
until the cords are broken
when dinner comes along.
Orb spiders live all over the world, wherever there are insects. This Madagascan one has hairs on its legs, which are very sensitive to vibrations. It sits with its legs touching its web. When an insect flies into and gets caught in its sticky silk, the spider can tell how far away it is. It can also tell which direction it has to run in to stop its meal from getting away. It grows up to the size of a saucer and makes webs up to 6 feet across –but is harmless to humans, and cannot walk easily anywhere but on its web, due to the hooks on the ends of its feet. The spider itself is not golden, but its silk is. It is not listed as endangered, but the forests of Madagascar in which it lives, are.
© Liz Brownlee
