A couple of gold and black images from the last few days. As I was editing the spider, I was struck by the similarity in colour palette with a moon shot I got earlier in the week.
One was 3.84cm from the lens, the other 384,000km.
Otherwise: same.
The spider is one of the Golden Orb Spiders (Family Nephilidae). This one, measuring almost 100mm from one tip of leg to the other, with a body size of just over 25mm would be a female. You rarely see the males because they’re only about 5mm long. Well, it has been chilly lately, to be fair.
Unusually, however, was this one being tucked in the corner of the wall near the braai. . We usually see them on huge, strong webs in the back of the garden. I’ve never seen one out of the safety of its web before, and I’m not sure what has prompted this behaviour.
You should be aware that these spiders – though big and a bit scary looking (mainly thanks to the face of the tortured demon trying to escape from within its back) – are completely harmless.
The other photo? And (almost) full moon rising in behind a local Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria heterophylla) tree taken from the front of the house on Tuesday evening.
You should also be aware that the moon and the tree are also both harmless.