Photo of the Day 153

Argiope Spider, New Caledonia, 2000

Photograph by Peter Essick

An argiope spider awaits prey in its ornate web in the French South Pacific territory of New Caledonia. The thick webbing is called stabilimentum, a structural flourish which some scientists think serves to make the webs more visible to birds, which might otherwise fly into them.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "New Caledonia: France's Untamed Pacific Outpost," May 2000, National Geographic magazine)