This is Stacey.

Stacey, a golden orb spider, lived in a Singaporean man's home for about a year before dying in late-2020.

The man, who only wanted to be known as Lee, shared that the spider was originally no bigger than the size of his fingernail.

Speaking to Mothership, Lee said that the little creature had "hitched a ride on his backpack".

Built special area for her

At home, Lee let the spider roam his room, and eventually even built a small area for her with fake plants, ropes and sticks.

Because the first web she built was right next to his air conditioner, he said he didn't dare to turn on his air conditioner for that entire week as he feared "freezing her to death".

Family grew to love Stacey

As he lives with his wife and mother, Lee said that his wife was "apprehensive" at first, but was eventually convinced by him saying that Stacey would tend to stay in her web all day.

Soon, his wife also grew to love Stacey.

While Lee takes on the task of feeding her (she eats mostly dragonflies, which he catches for her about once a week), he shared that his wife would also sometimes help with misting Stacey's web with water in the morning before they leave for work.

A photo of Stacey enjoying her meal (warning: if you are easily startled by close-up photos of spiders, now is the time to prepare yourself):

The spider lived with him for around a year, in their study room.

As Stacey lived "right above (his) wife's massage chair", Lee said that both his wife and mother have gotten used to having Stacey around.

He also added that his sister would also sleep in that room when she visits, and she is "perfectly fine with sharing the room with Stacey".

An "awesome" 2020 with Stacey

Stacey eventually died on Dec. 17, 2020.

At her largest, she was about 5.5 inches, or palm-sized:

"I always loved spiders since I was a kid," Lee said, explaining that he enjoys reading up on different spiders and how to care for them.

"Even as a kid I had a lot of spider books I borrowed from the library," he added.

For the entire year that Stacey lived with them, Lee said that the highlight of his day was always to come home and "see what new antics she has been up to".

He is also grateful to Stacey for keeping his room free from mosquitoes and for making his 2020 "awesome".

Information on golden orb weavers

Golden orb-weavers are actually not uncommon in Singapore, and can be found in nature areas like Sungei Buloh Nature Reserve.

Golden orb-weavers are so named due to their yellow webs. Their webs are pretty large, and can reach diameters of up to 1.5m.

Sometimes these webs are so huge and the silk threads so strong that small birds and bats can become ensnared and subsequently fed upon.

The huge spiders you see are actually females.

There's a huge size difference between males and females: Females can grow up to 20cm in length, while males can be four to 10 times smaller.

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Top photo courtesy of Lee.