Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
The Successful Exploitation Of Urban Environments By The Golden Silk Spider, Nephila Clavipes (Araneae, Nephilidae), Jake Ripp, Omar T. Eldakar, Andrew C. Gallup, Paul T. Arena
The Successful Exploitation Of Urban Environments By The Golden Silk Spider, Nephila Clavipes (Araneae, Nephilidae), Jake Ripp, Omar T. Eldakar, Andrew C. Gallup, Paul T. Arena
Biology Faculty Articles
Urbanization typically leads to habitat destruction producing negative effects for native species, but some species may exploit these settings. This concept was investigated in the golden silk spider (Nephila clavipes), a large, formidable spider that commonly inhabits forest edges as well as open spaces in urban environments throughout its vast geographic range. Here, we compared variation of N. clavipes success as measured by body size, web size and web positioning along an urban–rural gradient in southern Florida. From morphological measurements collected in the field, urban spiders had 60% longer legs and 35% longer bodies than both park and …