We may not live in a part of the world where the critters are huge and exotic, but the orb weaver spiders living in our yard are very, very big.  The one in the photos I posted is exceptionally large.  I’ve never seen such large spiders before.  The circumference of the largest is about six inches, and her length is about 3 inches.  I don’t know their exact name, although they belong to the orb weaver family.  (If you happen to know the name of this spider, please let me know.)  I also don’t know how poisonous they are, although I assume by their colorful bodies and red markings that they could really leave a nasty bite.  The large, colorful ones are the females, while the brownish males are much, much smaller.  Four or five of them have spun webs in the pine tree next to our house.  They’re not nearly as large as the one in the photos. 

 

The spider pictured is a genious.  She spun a monstrous, five foot long web from our hedge to the power line overhead, right in the middle of a major insect flight path.  As you can tell from the photos, this orb weaver has been busy catching and gorging itself on insects unfortunate enough to become entangle in her web.  She is about twice as large as the other orb weavers, proving the old adage that location is everything.  She demonstrates that 1% innovation beats 99% perspiration.  When I was playing with my son in the yard, I noticed what I thought was a swarm of insects.  I walked over to see what it was, and I was stunned to find see such a large, beautiful, and ingenious creature.   I was initially concerned that my son could be bitten by one of them, but all of the spiders are well out of the way of the children’s play area in our front area.  I showed the spiders to a Korean friend , and they said they had never seen such a spider in Korea.  An Internet Web search (pun intended) revealed little information about indigenous Korean spiders.  Because the area where I live is very transient, and families move frequently, it’s quite possible that the spider is an import from another country.  If true, they adapted well to Korean life.

 

Blog Note:  A couple readers asked me about posting more photos of people, such as Daniel Henney.  I try not to post copyrighted material, such as Daniel Henney’s photos.  I usually add reference links to other web sites where related photos and articles are available.  These links are highlighted in green, and you can click on them to visit the referenced page.  I agree that it’s good to post more photos with people.  I’ll do my best.  When I get ahold of the photos of my coworkers with Daniel Henney, I’ll definitely post them.