A joro gumo (harlot spider) or Nephilia Clavata. Here's her belly and teeth.
She's beautiful. Friggin' huge! Today she caught a moth and was chomping it for breakfast when I left the house. I showed my husband and his reaction was:
"Huh, a Joro spider."
I'm thinking "joro"? A slightly different pronunciation and very different characters translate as "watering can". I thought what a tame name for such a creature. But I was told later that "joro" does indeed mean "harlot". Learn something new everyday.
She's the newest but not the only spider we have now. There is Bruce, a tiny fly-catching fellow who lives in my bathroom window. He's been there for about two months now. There are strict rules in my house, Don't Kill Bruce. Even guests get the lecture. Unfortunately, his choice of real estate was quite poor so in order to keep him alive J and I go out with tweezers and occasionally snap up ants and drop them in his fairly tattered web. He must think he's pretty nifty though. No home repairs, doesn't have to work too much and here god is dropping juicy ants into his mouth. I really should cut him off.
I have a dilemma. Not about Bruce but about the Harlot (I must name her). She's out there working her black and yellow butt off but little does she know that we have this coming our way the day after tomorrow. A typhoon.
So I'm sitting here debating. Should I scoope her up and keep her safe for a few days until the weather passes or just let her be and hope for the best.
I mean, I'm not a huge spider fan. Right now the two arguments I'm leaning on are: she looks pretty resilient, and my lord she's huge!
Edit: Bruce's real estate wasn't so bad afterall.
