Urban-tolerance
Guides
Trichonephila
Banded Orbweavers, Golden Orb-weavers
Trichonephila is a genus of large orb-weaver spiders renowned for constructing massive, golden-hued webs. Females exhibit pronounced sexual size dimorphism, reaching 12–40 mm in body length while males remain much smaller. The genus was elevated from subgenus status in 2019 and now encompasses 13 species distributed across tropical and subtropical regions worldwide. Several species, including the Jorō spider (T. clavata) and golden silk spider (T. clavipes), have become notable invaders in North America, with T. clavata demonstrating remarkable cold tolerance and rapid range expansion along the eastern United States.