Return to Nephila in Mexico
A private garden in Fortín de las Flores, Veracruz, this property was owned by Ms. LeOra Forbes, now deceased. She welcomed me to her gardens and often to her home, and the data I collected were very important for understanding the ability of this spider to survive in very distinct climates.
Fortín de las Flores is located at 1000 m above sea level on the east side of the mountains and temperatures in the winter regularly drop to freezing or below. When it gets very cold, most of the spiderlings die and the population is very sparce for a few years. Such an event is called a "bottle neck" because only a few individuals survive (reducing the range of genotypes in the population). The spiders are also abundant in shade-grown coffee plantations in the area.