Spider

Wow. Great Capture. This image will be stuck in my retina for many years. When trying to recall images of spiders and webs, this will surely popup. Wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

Great photo!!

Very cool web!

There are a lot of theories about the function of the stabilimentum. Definitely out is the one of stabilisation. Interesting is the one which emphazise that insect are attracted by the reflection of uv light from the stabilimentum. And the whole bird's story as well as you already pointed out. But there are 2 sides of the medal: Birds would be alerted by the net not to fly in it, on the other side it is an invitation for spider eating birds: Here am I... Discussed was also the function of deposits of surplus silk or clima regulation. An all over conclusion might be that the stabilimentum is a perfect multifunctional tool. Hereby some very interesting links about these functions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_decoration http://www.bugsinthenews.com/stabilimentum_and_some_notions_on%20function.htm http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v33_n1/arac-033-01-0082.pdf http://psyche.entclub.org/87/87-013.html BTW: Might this one be a younger Argiope sp., for example Argiope savignyi?? I am not very experienced with spiders, but it looks like the one of an Argiope, but definitely not an adult male/female one.

What a lovely web!

its beautiful :) especially the design of its web.....