Batik Golden Orb Weaver
Previously known as Nephila antipodiana, this species resembles N. pilipes in many ways: the pairing of a dwarf reddish male with a giant black-and-yellow female, and the construction of a vertical orb web with strong and yellowish silk. However, recent DNA and other comparative studies have suggested the two are not closely related, and the species has since been transferred to the genus Trichonephila.
T. antipodiana differs from N. pilipes by having a sternum decorated with seven yellowish orange tubercles, plus a single strong conical tubercle protruding from the median anterior margin. The carapace is clothed with silver or golden hairs and is armed with a pair of conical tubercles. The black abdomen of the mature female has two rows of yellow spots dorsally amidst some random and elaborate patterns similar to certain "batik" designs. The yellow spots on the dorsum of juvenile females are larger and are set against a predominantly orangish background. The male appears slightly stouter than that of N. pilipes.
| Length | ♀ 30 mm; ♂ 9 mm. |
| Habitat | Gardens and wasteland, edges of mangrove swamps. Less common in primary forests. |
| Biology | The female often decorates the upper end of the hub with debris such as fallen twigs and petals. |
| Distribution | Widespread, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei. |
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Chelicerata (Chelicerates)
Class Arachnida (Arachnids)
Order Araneae (Spiders)
Suborder Araneomorphae (Typical Spiders)
Holotype
Naturhistorisches Museum, Basel (NMB), Switzerland (database search of type material, 08.04.2019); Nephila sarasinorum Merian, 1911, 1 ♀ (NMB-ARAN-00605 a)
Syntype(s)
Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt am Main (SMF), Germany (data base search of type material, 11.01.2019); 3 (4018-119), 1♀ 1 Juvenile♀ (4996-119), 1♀ (4997-119), 1 Juvenile♀ (4998-119), 2♂ 8♀ (5027-119), 6♀ 2 Juvenile♀ (5028-119) of Nephila celebesiana and of Nephila imperialis novae-mecklenburgiae
Epeira antipodiana (Original description ♀)
Walckenaer, 1841 Histoire naturelle des Insects. Aptères. Tome deuxième: 93 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.61095
Epeira imperialis (Original description ♀; preoccupied by Walckenaer, 1805, see Caerostris sexcuspidata)
Doleschall, 1857 Bijdrage tot de kennis der Arachniden van den Indischen Archipel: 413 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.66068
Epeira imperialis (j)
Doleschall, 1859 Tweede Bijdrage tot de kennis der Arachniden van den Indischen Archipel: 28, pl. 12, f. 2
Nephila ornata (Original description j; preoccupied by Adams, 1847, see Nephila pilipes)
Blackwall, 1864b Descriptions of seven new species of East Indian spiders received from the Rev: 43 doi:10.1080/00222936408681653
Nephila baeri (Original description ♀)
Nephila imperialis
Nephila laurinae (Original description ♀)
Nephila nigritarsis insulicola (Original description ♀)
Nephila sarasinorum (Original description ♀)
Merian, 1911 Die Spinnenfauna von Celebes: 198, pl. 9, f. 10-11
Nephila imperialis novae-mecklenburgiae (Original description ♀)
Strand, 1911b Vorläufige Diagnosen neuer Spinnen, insbesondere aus der Südsee, des Senckenbergischen Museums: 204
Nephila ambigua (Original description ♂♀)
Kulczyński, 1911c Spinnen aus Nord-Neu-Guinea: 464, pl. 20, f. 41-42 doi:10.5962/bhl.title.10923
Nephila imperialis (Original description ♂)
Dahl, 1912a Seidenspinne und Spinneseide: 36, 59 doi:10.1002/mmnz.19120060101
Nephila celebesiana (Original description ♀)
Strand, 1915d Indoaustralische, papuanische und polynesische Spinnen des Senckenbergischen Museums, gesammelt von Dr E: 206, pl. 13, f. 12-13, pl. 16, f. 50
Nephila imperialis (♂♀; misidentified per Yuan & Zhang, 2020: 120)
Liao, Chen & Song, 1984 On morphological characteristics and biology of the silk spider Nephila imperialis (Araneae: Araneidae): 69, f. 1A-C
Nephila imperialis (♂♀; misidentified per Yuan & Zhang, 2020: 120)
Song, 1987 Spiders from agricultural regions of China (Arachnida: Araneae): 173, f. 133
Nephila antipodiana (♂♀)
Yin et al., 1990 New and newly recorded species of the spiders of family Araneidae from China (Arachnida, Araneae): 2, f. 1-5
Nephila antipodiana (♀)
Barrion & Litsinger, 1995 Riceland spiders of South and Southeast Asia: 563, f. 348a-h
Nephila imperialis (♂♀; misidentified per Yuan & Zhang, 2020: 120)
Song, Zhu & Chen, 1999 The spiders of China: 217, f. 124O-P, 125D
Nephila laurinae (♂♀; misidentified per Yuan & Zhang, 2020: 120)
Zhu, Song & Zhang, 2003 Fauna Sinica: Invertebrata Vol. 35: Arachnida: Araneae: Tetragnathidae: 78, f. 33A-I
Nephila antipodiana (♂♀, Synonym of Nephila ambigua, N. celebesiana, N. imperialis, N. laurinae, N. laurinae novaemecklenburgiae, N. nigritarsis insulicola and N. sarasinorum)
Harvey, Austin & Adams, 2007 The systematics and biology of the spider genus Nephila (Araneae: Nephilidae) in the Australasian region: 436, f. 3, 6, 60-72 doi:10.1071/IS05016
Nephila antipodiana (♀)
Kim, Park & Lee, 2007 Redescription of Nephila antipodiana (Walckenaer), 1841 from Philippines (Araneae, Nephilidae): 123, f. 1a-d
Trichonephila antipodiana (Transferred from Nephila)
Kuntner et al., 2019 Golden orbweavers ignore biological rules: phylogenomic and comparative analyses unravel a complex evolution of sexual size dimorphism: 557 doi:10.1093/sysbio/syy082
Trichonephila antipodiana (♂)
Cheng et al., 2024 Preliminary study of palpal sexual dimorphism in Trichonephila antipodiana based on transcriptome data: 638, f. 1A-D doi:10.11984/j.issn.1000-7083.20240129
Widespread, including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei.