[PotD] Esmeralda the 7-Legged golden orb weaver.

[moonvoice]

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.

Comments

[white_rabbit]

Aww, I have a fondness for 7-legged spiders. :) Esmerelda is lovely, though I'm sure I'd be terrified of her if I saw her in real life!

[venturous]

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.

[hrafn]

:D

[redsixwing]

What an astonishing color.
We have a resident 7-legged wolf spider. He seems to do all right, too.

[silverjackal]

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. :)

[fadedwings]

She's beautiful!

[calissa]

She's a gorgeous one, isn't she? I love the colour and patterning on her abdomen.

[sabr]

Shes so beautiful! Thank you for this!

[snellosaurus]

Esmeralda is so pretty. I love that first photo, it's such a great angle. And the second photo really shows off her colours.

^_^

[moonvoice]

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. :)

[moonvoice]

Aw that's cool about Dexter the wolf spider! :D

[moonvoice]

She's awesome!

[moonvoice]

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. :)

[moonvoice]

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.

[moonvoice]

She really is just so lovely.

[moonvoice]

She's really lovely, and I'm going to miss her when she goes.

[moonvoice]

You're welcome! I'm glad other people are enjoying Esmerelda too!

[moonvoice]

Esmeralda is awesome, maybe she'll be my photo of the day again. :)

[valkyriur]

So gorgeous!

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. :(