A Giant Golden Orb-weaving Spider (Nephila Pilipes) cleans up

Описание

I came across this Nephila pilipes, a Giant Golden Orb-weaving Spider, with her huge golden web poised over the rainforest-fringed waters of Babinda Creek in Tropical North Queensland, Australia.

Not that long ago, I could hardly bear to look at these massive spiders but now I can't help being fascinated as she stretches out to tend the fringes of her web with the grace and poise of an acrobat. Until she gets a bit stuck on herself, that is, and has to give her legs a good licking clean.

And the flute music? It came wafting out of the forest with the sound of the cicadas, meandered along the track, got caught in the web for a while, shook itself loose and then slipped into the rapids. Must have been the pied piper.