PSYCHE 
Vol. 78 September, 1971 No. 3 
THE PREDATORY BEHAVIOR OF 
THE GOLDEN-WEB SPIDER NEPHILA CLAVIPES 
(ARANEAE: ARANEIDAE) 
By Michael H. Robinson 
and Heath Mirick 
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, P.O. Box 2072 > 
Balboa, Canal Zone (Panama) 
Introduction 
Details of the role of wrapping behavior in the predatory activities 
of Nephila clavipes (Linnaeus) were given by Robinson, Mirick 
& Turner (1969). Their account also gave broad details of the 
total behavior of this species. At that time,, the publication of an 
exhaustive account of the predatory behavior of N. clavipes was in- 
tended and anticipated. Since then, however, the senior author has 
carried out studies of the behavior of other species of Nephila in 
Africa and Asia, and with co-workers is currently engaged in a 
study of the behavior and ecology of Nephila maculata (Fabricius) 
in New Guinea. It now seems appropriate for us to leave details 
of part of our work on N. clavipes for inclusion in a broad compara- 
tive paper and publish here those aspects which relate most directly 
to the main points cited in outline by Robinson, Mirick & Turner 
(1969). 
This paper therefore presents a summary model of the predatory 
behavior of Nephila clavipes , based on the investigations of the 
present authors in the summer of 1968 and further experiments 
carried out by the senior author in 1969. We give emphasis to the 
investigations and experiments that led to establishing some of the 
major aspects of the model and leave detailed descriptions of be- 
havior units and behavior sequences for inclusion in the projected 
comparative paper. We have also left consideration of the temporal 
aspects of the behavior sequences for inclusion in the later paper. 
Materials and Methods 
Our basic observations and some of our experiments were car- 
ried out with captive adult female spiders. The spiders were not 
confined to cages but were released in a large screened insectary at 
123 
