Zebra Spider in 3D http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artmay00/zebraw.html
Deeply frustrated at the profound lack of luck I was having in finding a half-decent wildlife-related website for this weeks SOTW, I sat back and tapped the corner of my laptop. And, as if by magic, inspiration leapt to my fingertips. Literally. (And for those who abhor the inappropriate use of the word ‘literally’, yes, I do literally mean literally.) A truly beautiful moment: a zebra jumping spider sat staring at me from just above the delete key. The minuscule individual (probably, therefore, a male) swivelled left and right, then leapt back onto the desk, skirted around my highlighter pen, and disappeared.
So this week, thanks to one of the worlds greatest arachnids and the miracles of search engine technology, may we present a site by photographer Wim van Egmond. Youll need red and blue 3D glasses, because Wims photos arent of the normal, boring, flat kind. The zebra jumping spiders on these pages really do jump out at you…
Though there’s plenty of fascinating reading to accompany the images, this isnt a vast site. To make up for the disappointment, try one of Wims other excellent sites, the 3D Gallery of Spiders http://www1.tip.nl/%7Et936927/gal/2/index.html. Here youll find photos of spiders and a few of their close relatives, all in spectacular red and blue glory and complete with small paragraphs of info. Look out for the mating wolfspiders, another zebra spider, and the brilliant picture of a triumphant spitting spider.
Richard Northover
Info-content ** Readability ** Appearance *** User friendliness ** Kids ***** Plug-ins none