This 2007 photograph, captured by CDC biomedical photographer, James Gathany, depicted a female black widow spider, Latrodectus mactans, as she was in the process of spinning her web upon a tree branch. Youll note the characteristic red hourglass located on her inferior abdominal surface, which can vary in coloration from yellowish, to shades of orange and red, and at times, can even be white. The females body is an overall shiny jet-black in color. This spider was found on a farm, here in the state of Georgia.Created: 2007
Under a very low magnification of only 12X, this scanning electron micrograph (SEM) depicted a rather ominous scene, for entangled in this brown recluse spider web was the exoskeletal remains of an unidentified insect, which was believed to be an ant. Known as spider silk, the strands of silk are produced by the spiders spinnerets, which are glands located in the distal tip of its abdomen. Once the prey has become entangled in the web, the spider will cautiously, though aggressively, approach the prey, subduing it with a neurotoxic bite, which also contains proteolytic, or protein-destroying enzymes, and further enwraps the prey in a web cocoon like the one seen here.Created: 2007
