Joro spider (adult female)
The Joro spider (Trichonephila clavate) is a member of the family Araneidae. In Taiwan, it mainly inhabits shrubs in mid-elevation areas. For a long time, they were placed in the genus Nephila, which in Chinese is known as the “human face” genus. As such, this spider’s common name in Chinese includes the characters for “human face.”
The adult female is around 4 cm long and has a large distended abdomen (especially when carrying eggs), while the male is smaller and has a more slender abdomen.
The Joro spider is an orb web building spider Its web is composed of spider silk in radial and spiral directions and hangs vertically in the air. What is unique is that this spider often gathers in groups. That is, multiple individuals build their webs near one another and these webs are connected. Such colonial webs are an amazing sight.
