Trichonephila clavipes: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the trichonephila clavipes lives – recorded in 20 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Trichonephila clavipes
Group	Spiders, scorpions & other arachnids
Found in	20 countries
Continents	North America, South America
Class	Arachnid
Order	Araneida
Family	Araneidae

Where does the trichonephila clavipes live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the trichonephila clavipes in 20 countries and territories across North America and South America.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

What kind of animal is the trichonephila clavipes?

The trichonephila clavipes (Trichonephila clavipes) is an arachnid in the order Araneida and the family Araneidae, genus Trichonephila. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the trichonephila clavipes

Trichonephila clavipes (formerly known as Nephila clavipes), commonly known as the golden silk orb-weaver, golden silk spider, golden orb weaver spider or colloquially banana spider (a name shared with several others), is an orb-weaving spider species which inhabits forests and wooded areas ranging from the southern US to Argentina. It is indigenous to both continental North and South America. Known for the golden color of their silk, the large size of their females, and their distinctive red-brown and yellow coloring, T. clavipes construct large, asymmetrical circular webs attached to trees and low shrubs in woods to catch small- and medium-size flying prey, mostly insects. They are excellent web-builders, producing and utilizing seven different types of silk, and they subdue their prey by injecting them with venom, as opposed to related species which immobilize their prey by wrapping them in silk first. They are not known to be aggressive towards humans, only biting out of self-defense if touched, and their relatively harmless venom has a low toxicity, posing little health concern to healthy human adults. Due to their prevalence in forests, T. clavipes may be encountered by hikers.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Trichonephila clavipes (revision 1380825408), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q116753769 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).