The Find-a-spider Guide - Golden orb-weaver Find a spider by... common name location species family webs and egg sacs photos This species exhibits striking sexual dimorphism, the small male often waiting on the periphery of the web. An important characteristic of the female is the present of black brushes along the legs. The web is remarkably strong and has a characteristic yellow colour as does the fluffy egg sac which tends to be left in the tree the spider was using for support. In many parts of south-east Queensland this species is present in very large numbers, especially throughout the warmer months of the year. Spider(s) with a very similar appearance: Nephila plumipes and Nephila pilipes Bizarre "King of Wasps" Found in Indonesia The two-inch-long (five-centimeter-long) black insects are shrouded in mystery—all of the wasp specimens caught so far have been dead. "I'm not certain any researcher has ever seen one alive, but they are very bizarre-looking," said study co-author Lynn Kimsey , an entomologist at the University of California, Davis, who co-discovered the insect. "It's the extreme version of the [larrine wasp] subfamily they belong to." Larrine wasps typically dig nests for their eggs and larvae in open, sandy areas. The adults grow no longer than an inch (2.5 centimeters)—making the newly discovered the "king of wasps," according to the study authors. Female wasps look like most other wasp species, but the males grow long, sickle-shaped jaws. The males' flattened faces and large, spiked jaws may be clever adaptations to protect a nest that contains vulnerable larvae, she suggested. "Other wasps of the same species often rob burrows for food, and parasites try to get in there, too," she said. ZooKeys
Concrete Poured Into Ant Colony Reveals Insect Megalopolis A video from Ants: Nature's Secret Power shows off the complicated, seemingly human abilities of non-human builders This extraordinary video clip is from Ants: Nature's Secret Power, a documentary about the world of ants as seen through the eyes of Bert Hölldobler, ant authority and E.O. Wilson collaborator. Concrete was poured into an giant underground ant megalopolis, which acts as a mold. After the concrete hardened, scientists carefully excavated it to reveal the structure of the ant's elaborate "city-state": Everything looks like it has been designed by an architect, a single mind, but of course that isn't true. It's kind of grown-up reverse ant farm. Video link here. via SwissMiss This post also appears on The Improvised Life.Image: Juan Carlos Ulate/Reuters