A web of gold
Her silk is yellow, and a big web shines gold in the sun.
A Japanese garden · Spiders and scorpions
Joro spider
Trichonephila clavata
A slim spider with a yellow abdomen banded in blue-grey, a red patch near the tail, and long black legs ringed with yellow.
- Size
- Female body 2 to 2.5cm, leg span up to 10cm
- Look for it
- August to November
- Where
- Gardens, hedges and woodland edges in Japan, Korea and China
Picks her way after you on long, banded legs. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Joro spider
Good to know
Six things about the joro spider
A three-layered web
She builds a main web with a tangle of threads in front and behind. It can be a metre across.
A tiny husband
The male is a fraction of her size and lives at the edge of her web.
A spider in stories
In Japanese folk tales the jorogumo is a spider that turns into a beautiful woman.
The young fly on silk
Spiderlings let out a thread and are carried away on the wind, sometimes for many miles.
Timid
She is very reluctant to bite, and her fangs can barely break skin.
The real thing
Photos of the joro spider
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Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
In autumn, look between shrubs and under the eaves of buildings for a large golden web with a yellow spider in the middle.
How to help
She catches mosquitoes and stink bugs. People in Japan are happy to leave the webs where they are.