Can anyone identify this spider?
 

I took this photo on Anzac day at Camelia Gardens in Southerland

http://forums.photographyreview.com/...mg_4723web.jpg

Sorry there is no size context, it was hard to get a decent photo as the webs (there were hundreds of these guys) were blowing in the wind but they were quite large.

on a casual basis.. Nephila edulis.

It's at a bit of an odd angle, but it looks like a Nephila to me.

You don't have a photo of the top of the spider do you? Even a blurry one would help in this case.

skyman

as the webs were blowing in the wind
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Well thats the answer, my friend.

More likely Nephila plumipes.

Thanks all, based on the wikipedia descriptions it looked more like a Nephila edulis then a Nephila plumpies, in fact their photo of the Sydney female is almost exactly as I recall except their bodies were black. I have never scene such numbers of such a large spider before.

Couldn't get two wrong in a week could I? I mean JJ's Lerp doesn't exist on the internet, even after we knew what it was. It wasn't my fault I tells ya....

Back to the spider. Here is some additional information and a page to visit:

The two large and easily spotted Nephila species, Nephila plumipes and Nephila edulis, are very similar in appearance.
The female of both species is between 20 en 25 mm in length and the male is around 5 mm.
Legs are long and slender and both have tufts of hair on their legs.
But there are differences: Nephila edulis Nephila plumipes (old name Nephila ornata ) Longer/more tufted hairs on legs
Web lower to ground in schrub
Smaller web than N. ornata
Brown gray bands on legs
Shorter/less tufted hairs on legs
Web higher from ground in trees
Larger web than N. edulis
Gold/yellow bands on legs
That is my bold. Yours seems to have gold, yellow bands on legs. Ref: Family Nephilidae.

Hoped it helped.

Helped me too, now I have confirmation of which species I have around here, N. plumipes ( I kinda guessed that, based on my coastal location, but the info gold bands on legs helped a lot).

Cheers nut, keep up the good work http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ilies/wink.png

The coloration of juvenile Nephila edulis spiders and probably Nephila plumipes too, differ from that of adults. The underside is very much darker and strongly patterned, which with the photo shown would be a juvenile. The web color I have recently noticed only changes to gold when the female is adult and capable of breeding; the web in the photo was not golden and is likely another indication of maturity.