Trichonephila edulis
Common Name: Australian Golden Orb-Weaving Spider
The meaning of Trichonephila is not known. Edulis is Latin for edible.
Found throughout Australia.
Females have a body length of up to 40 millimetres long, males to 7 millimetres. The web has a golden appearance in sunlight.
We have seen these spiders from September, through summer, to the following April.
Only the female spider builds a web. Unlike a lot of spiders, the web is not dismantled but repaired when damaged. The males can often be found on the outer edges of the web. They are small and can be mistaken for baby spiders.
Trichonephila webs normally contain a string of debris masses which are the remains of insects the spider has eaten. The tendency to produce such a string is rare among orb weaver species so this is a useful identification feature.
The web is very strong and has been known to trap small birds.
Kleptoparasites like Argyrodes antipodianus, Dewdrop Spider, can also occupy the web.
Atlas of Living Australia https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/06e4e0c6-6973-4441-b7f2-2a5dcb932778
Arachne.org.au http://www.arachne.org.au/01_cms/details.asp?ID=1654
Spider Watch, a Guide to Australian Spiders. Bert Brunet. 2000
A Field Guide to Spiders of Australia. Robert Whyte and Greg Anderson. 2017