image: These two images show two examples of orb-web types. The image on the left shows the orb web of a deinopoid spider, Waitkera waitakerensis (Chamberlain) from Piha, New Zealand. This photo was taken by Brent Opell. The image on the right shows the orb web of an araneoid spider, Argiope trifasciata, from Palo Alto, California. The image to the right was taken by Mark Chappell. The image above relates to an article that appeared in the 23 June 2006 issue of the journal Science, published by AAAS. The study, by Dr. Jessica E. Garb of the University of California, Riverside, and colleagues, was titled "Silk Genes Support the Single Origin of Orb-Webs." Dr. Garb's article appeared in tandem with a second article on spider webs, titled "Early Cretaceous Spider Web with Its Prey, by E. Peñalver and D.A. Grimaldi at American Museum of Natural History in New York, NY, and X. Delclòs at Universitat de Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain. view more
Credit: Photograph provided by Brent Opell (left) and Mark Chappell (right), via <i>Science</i>-AAAS.