Golden orb weaver spider male

Nephila pilipes

This was my planned blip for today, not very often that plans work out, as I am sure you all know. It came about after viewing yesterday's crop of images, when I noticed the long spikes on the end of the pedipalps (feelers). They actually look quite dangerous, but are not used for biting or attack.

In nearly all species of adult spider, the sexes can be told apart by the bulbous growth on the ends of the palps. I have discussed this process before but here is a quick recap:

The male extrudes some sperm and sucks it up into the bulb, inserts the pointy bit into the female, the seed is transferred and stored until just before the eggs are laid.

Never before have I seen spikes like this on any of the spiders that I have observed, quite incredible. I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised as this is one of those species were the female is massive compared to the male. See the vertical stem with the orange/yellow blob next to the spider - that is a piece of the last segment of the rear leg of the female, just to give you some idea of the size difference. Consequently, nature has given the male larger equipment to deal with the challenge of mating such a huge partner.

Dave