Web architecture of giant orb weaver, Nephila pilipes in response to habitat and food
Keywords:
Nephila, web architecture, hub displacement, mesh widthAbstract
The web of Nephila pilipes is usually seen among the tall trees in the forest. Female golden orb web spider, Nephila uses her web as semi-permanent home site. Some web architectural parameters were measured in 15 webs of subadult and adult female Nephila spiders in deep forest and sparse forest each. In deep and dense forest, overall web size is larger than in sparse forest. Web width and web height is comparatively more in dense forest. In sparce forest, web shows more hub displacement and less mesh width to enhance prey capture efficiency. Whereas in dense forest webs, there is less hub displacement and wide mesh width to capture larger prey. Large population of healthy Nephila with larger and more symmetrical webs is seen in dense forest. Giant wood spider, Nephila is at the top of food web of small invertebrates. This food web is the subset of food web of top carnivore like tiger. Hence, for healthy forest ecosystem, these spiders should conserve by protecting their natural habitat.
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