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The Case of the Lopsided Spider

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American



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I was entranced by this image when it appeared today in my facebook stream:

Captured by the talented Malaysian photographer Liew Wk, the photo shows a developmental asymmetry in size between the anterior median eyes of this Asian jumping spider. I do not know what caused this imbalance. Perhaps each side is a molt out of sync, or perhaps this individual is a mosaic of male & female parts. I wonder if it has troubles catching prey, or if the little spider brain has adapted to deal with the unconventional visual signal.

Wk's image is the best sort of nature photograph. The spider appears bemused, as with a raised eyebrow, but the oddness also keeps us entrained to the underlying biology. So we linger.

Alex Wild is Curator of Entomology at the University of Texas at Austin, where he studies the evolutionary history of ants. In 2003 he founded a photography business as an aesthetic complement to his scientific work, and his natural history photographs appear in numerous museums, books and media outlets.

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