I went to Hawaii and while in the mountains of Maui came across this huge, glittery, creepy spider.
Does anyone happen to know what it is? I have been wondering about it for 3 years now, and am just curious as to what it was.
We were just wandering around the island but if I had to guess what the area was called I would say Iao Valley State Park, Wailuku, Maui, HI.
This is a harmless (to humans) orb weaving spider (family Araneidae); likely in the genus Argiope - see http://tinyurl.com/25syv9e for an example.
