Esmeralda is a member of the Nephila edulis species. We aren't sure how she lost one of her legs, but she's doing okay. She's a lot bigger than she used to be, which isn't easily visible, due to the close-ups.
Esmerelda is great. The good thing about her is her web is quite close to a fence, and almost impossible to accidentally walk into, so she's a very 'safe' large spider in terms of both the position of her web and where she is in the garden. And that makes her a lot less scary once you get used to her. :)
I am a recovering arachnophobia & my new home features a small wolf spider living in the shower. At first he gave me the creeps, but now named Dexter I have regular conversations.
She's pretty amazing. She looks more 'standard' from the otherside, but she always hangs up facing backwards, so we see her speckledy, nicely coloured underside. :)
She could have lost the leg to escaping a bird attack. spiders are actually fairly good at healing, and depending on how long she has to live she could even regenerate the leg (though that's doubtful given that she's a full adult). I am always amazed by the exquisite jointing on the Nephia. Of course other spiders have it too, but it doesn't show nearly as much. I also love the vermiculations on her abdomen. At least from the angle of the second photo, it looks like she has a little heart. :)
She's beautiful. And the patterns on her abdomen are amazing, she's actually been really lovely to have in the garden. She's almost like a pet. I say hello to her everyday. She's been suffering through this heatwave a little bit, so hopefully she does okay and she's still there by the end of the week.
You talk to your spiders, too, huh? When we get them in a garden I do the same. Unfortunately, we get a lot of black widows. And while they are beautiful, they could kill our cats, so we do have to kill them if they come around. :(
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branchandroot
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Date: 2012-12-27 03:01 pm (UTC)We have a resident 7-legged wolf spider. He seems to do all right, too.
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Date: 2012-12-28 01:53 am (UTC)^_^
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Date: 2012-12-30 09:42 pm (UTC)You talk to your spiders, too, huh? When we get them in a garden I do the same. Unfortunately, we get a lot of black widows. And while they are beautiful, they could kill our cats, so we do have to kill them if they come around. :(