Arthropods of Wildcliff

South Africa exhibits a wide diversity of insects and spiders, and many fascinating ones are being found at Wildcliff. Our inventory of insects and spiders is an ongoing project, and further research is invited (see the research page). One can view photographs of some of them in a slideshow -- just click on the image at right. For more insight into the insect diversity at Wildcliff, see Mickal Houadria's Survey of Arthropods and the photos with identifications (where possible) See also the study of freshwater invertebrates by Zsolt Gidó. Ants of Wildcliff are the subject of Marijke Wouters' new study, with an emphasis on the invasive Argentine ant. For some current observations, see the Wildcliff Fauna Log.

Click on the photo for more pictures

Golden orb-web spider, Nephila pilipes fenestrata

One of the fascinating creatures you'll encounter in the slideshow is the beautiful, shy, black-legged golden orb-web spider, Nephila pilipes fenestrata, pictured at left in its unique yellow web. This is a female, despite the hairy legs. The males are tiny - as little as 1/1000 of the size of females -- so they have to be careful lest they get eaten when seeking to copulate. An amorous male will usually only approach the female when she is occupied with feeding. He descends towards her and inserts his sexual organs, called pedipalps, one by one, into her genital opening which is situated underneath her abdomen. Copulation may take many hours and afterwards the exhausted male retreats to a safe place away from the female. To protect his paternity, the male may break off his copulatory organs, leaving fragments that obstruct the female's genital openings. More pictures of this and other arthropods in the slideshow.

Insects of the World

Class: Insecta

Spiders of the World

Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae

Links & References