points of departure

Spider WebWatch: A citizen scientist initiative in North America
Spider WebWatch is a biodiversity monitoring effort for biologists, naturalists, educators and students. From more than 4,400 species of spiders in North America, 9 were chosen as eight-legged ambassadors.

European Spider of the Year 2008

Link

This first little fungus, a mold called Nomuraea atypicola, is not dangerous to you or I, but as you can see, it is a mortal enemy of spiders. It’s not just growing on the spider, like a bad case of athlete’s foot. No, it has consumed it from the inside, and it is now making a kajillion pinkish spores on the cadaver. Kind of like that old movie, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. This spider is thoroughly dead.