Piotr Naskrecki / Spiked Spider (Gasteracantha sp) their abdomen, or opisthosoma, is heavily sclerotized and armed with hard spines possibly to protect against birds and lizards, Solomon Islands

Kim Taylor / Spiked spider {Gasteracantha sp} eating its web as it winds it in, East Africa

Paul Bertner / Spiked Spider (Gasteracantha sp), Angkor Wat, Cambodia

MYN / Javier Aznar / Spider (Micratena cyanospina) Cuyabeno National Park, Ecuador. Meetyourneighbours.net project

MYN / Lily Kumpe / Christmas Spider (Austracantha minax) Denmark Shire, Warren Bioregion, Western Australia. Meetyourneighbtous.net project

MYN / Clay Bolt / Arrowhead Micrathena (Micrathena sp) Kanuku Mountains, Guyana. Meetyourneighbours.net project

Alex Mustard / Candy crab (Hoplophrys oatesii) on Dendronephthya soft coral bush. Tulamben Bay, Bali, Indonesia. Java Sea.

Piotr Naskrecki / Spiked Spider (Gasteracantha sp), Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique

Cyril Ruoso / Spiked Spider (Gasteracantha sp) in web, East Kalimantan, Indonesia

Chien Lee / Spiked Spider (Gasteracantha sp), Semengoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia

Pete Oxford / Spiked Spider (Gasteracantha sp), Kanuku Protected Area, Rupununi, Guyana

Piotr Naskrecki / Spiked Spider (Gasteracantha sp) portrait, Costa Rica

Kim Taylor / Spiked spider {Gasteracantha sp} eating its web as it winds it in, Kenya

Colin Varndell / Teasel (dipsacus fullonum) seed heads and spider's silk backlit on an autumn morning, Dorset, UK. October.

Bruce Thomson / Jewel spider / Spiny spider (Austracantha minax) on leaf, Wet Tropics World Heritage area, Queensland, Australia.

Bruce Thomson / Jewel spider / Spiny spider (Austracantha minax) on leaf, Wet Tropics World Heritage area, Queensland, Australia.

Bruce Thomson / Jewel spider / Spiny spider (Austracantha minax) hanging upside down on silk thread, Wet Tropics World Heritage area, Queensland, Australia.

Alex Mustard / Large Spider crab (Maja brachydactyla) in front of Cuvie kelp (Laminaria hyperborea), Porthkerris, Cornwall, UK, English Channel.

Alex Mustard / Large, male Spider crab / Cornish king crab (Maja brachydactyla) on the seabed, Porthkerris, Cornwall, UK, English Channel.

Alex Mustard / RF - Large male Spider crab / Cornish king crab (Maja brachydactyla) sheltering in Common eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadow Helford River Estuary, Cornwall, UK. (This image may be licensed either as ri...