Bu-gok (부곡) | Elwood 5566

Spider Season

Posted in Animals, Photo diary, seasons by 노강호 on November 10, 2012

Bu-gok (부곡) in late autumn with ‘Chinese’ cabbages growing in the forefront

Last Friday I travelled to Bu-gok (부곡), about 45 minutes drive outside Daegu, to practice straw cutting with my komdo teacher. The barn where we cut is on a farm and wandering around I discovered some enormous spider webs belonging to what is probably the most prolific spider in Korea, the Sorcerer or Shaman spider (mu-dang – 무당). In English it has several names including the Golden Banana Spider and Joro Spider. Its Latin name is nephila clavata.

the farmer’s garden

The span between supports was over 2 meters

The numerous spiders on these webs were neither as large nor colourful, possibly as it is right at the end of their mating season and the end of autumn. Their webs however, were not just large, 3 meters across, but densely intertwined. The genes of the mu-dang have been used in genetically cloning silk worms in order to produce stronger silk. Only the female carries the red marking and apart from being larger than the male, she has cannibalistic tendencies after mating.