Wildlife Spotting

Spiders are measured by TBL (Total Body Length)* and it should be done with great care, so as to avoid scaring them. The ruler should be held as close as possible to the plain of the web, but not too close to the spider. It is best to include the ruler in the photo so that there can be no doubt regarding size. *Total Body Length, obviously, is "snout to rump". Legs are not included.

Argiope amoena is not present in the Philippines. Argiope aemula is present in the Philippines, but it is not the spider shown here. The spider in this spotting is Argiope appensa.

Beautiful!

Yes, 30cm is equal to one foot. 4.5" sounds more likely, which is still quite large for a spider in the US.

And I mean as big as my palm - 30cm does sound excessive. I don't have a metric ruler around here - but if 1cm is close to 1/4" - that would make it over 7' in diameter... the one I had in my garden was about 4.5" from leg tip to farthest leg tip. Our wolf spiders get about that big, but it was the largest garden spider I've ever seen.

The giant one I had in my garden was at least that big - but we're talking leg tip to leg tip - it's still a 'delicate' spider - not going to eat birds, even baby hummingbirds.... biggest prey to not destroy the web would be a moderate size grasshopper. They have kind of a minimalist web... w/ exception of the zipper pattern they add in the middle. Even the giant one I had in my garden in Texas, with the humongous leg span - the body of the critter was about 1.5x the width of a pencil and about 2" long... it's those freakishly long legs all splayed out that give it such an impressive size.

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?60566-New-Spider-Argiope-aemula. http://t1.ftcdn.net/jpg/00/10/78/80/400_F_10788023_lIvPnX9jQYZVkFcnzwgTt8qR1ISwrUcS.jpg

Are you sure about 30cm across? That seems really huge. I think only bird-eating tarantulas get that big.

This is a very well-traveled spider - sub-species on a number of continents. I recognized this one quickly - as we have a nearly identical species in Texas (USA) - had to look to see if this was indeed also in the Philippines, and it is. The web pattern is very similar as well. The species here - if you 'strum' one of the strings of the web, the spider will get under or on top of the web and make it bounce like a trampoline. They can get very large. I had one in an undisturbed part of my garden for several months - it got so big, the small silver part of its abdomen was large enough that I could see my reflection in it like a mirror. Spiders in general are fascinating creatures - this is one of my favorites. While I've had other spiders get indoors - this is a species that I've never seen encroaching into the home.