Web of gold

The golden silk of this Orb weaver gives it the common name, Golden Orb Weaver Nephila plumipes which is one of  three GOW  (Nephila maculata found in the tropical regions, is the largest and can be up to 45mm long) in Australia and is found throughout tropical and temperate regions. The female is the web builder and is a giant compared to the tiny male who spends most of his time on the outer edges of the web picking up the smaller insects snared and being ready to mate when he gets a chance without being eaten. The web once built is added to and constantly maintained. The web is often home to a number of smaller spider species such as the Quicksilver spiders and they probably benefit from the discarded husks of the orb weaver's prey that are kept hanging in the web.