Giant Golden Orb Weaver Spider (Nephila Pelipes)
Image Copyright David Vinot
Last Observed: October 2015 – Koh Chang
Observations by By: Heli Pohjolainen, David Vinot, Tiger Maa, Dave Hinchliffe, Perry Stevens
This beautiful, but admittedly large and potentially scary spider is a common sight in the woodlands of Koh Chang. It builds huge and intricate webs and seldom if ever leaves them, waiting instead for lunch to fly into the trap.
If we could manufacture Golden Orb Web Spider silk, it would have a million uses; from parachutes, bullet-proof vests, lightweight clothing, seatbelts, light but strong ropes, as sutures in operations and artificial tendons and ligaments. The silk is almost as strong as Kevlar, the strongest man-made material which is drawn from concentrated sulphuric acid.
Giant Golden Orb Weaver Spider Wikipedia
Image Copyright Perry Stevens
Image Copyright 2015 David Vinot
Image Dave Hinchliffe
Image Copyright 2015 David Vinot
Image: Tiger Maa
Image Copyright Perry Stevens
Image Tiger Maa
Image: Tiger Maa
Image Copyright 2015 David Vinot
Image Copyright 2015 Heli Pohjolainen
