The Spider

Taken at the Barnawapara Sanctuary, Chattisgarh in India,it was a female Nephila maculata (Fabricius) from the family Tetragnathidae because the male reaches maximum upto 5-6 mm. This species of spider is widely distributed over India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, China, Japan, Northern Australia.
The characteristic of this species of spider is that the cephalothorax is thin and flat with the cephalus raised. At the rear of the cephalus, there are two short horn-like projections. The abdomen is long, rounded, widest and truncated in the front, narrowing gradually to a rounded posterior. The abdomen covers pedicel and spinnerets. The legs are very long. The front legs are about twice as long as the spider, thin, brittle and swollen at the joints. There is a longitudinal row of short spines on the femora. Carapace is black and covered with very short silvery hairs. The abdomen is black with yellow longitudinal bands. The male is reddish brown in colour and hangs on the edge of the web and is very smaller than the female.