File:Eustala madddux dorsal view.tif - Wikimedia Commons

English: The ventral view of a new spider species discovered by Dr. Ingi Agnarsson’s lab at the University of Vermont which will be named along the lines of Eustala maddux by undergraduate research student Lauren Polk. Approximately 20 of the Eustala spiders that have been collected in the Caribbean islands for our biogeography research are new species that will be taxonomically classified in an upcoming publication using our photographs. The spider’s legs on one side are removed so that the view of its key features is unobstructed and so that it can be more easily oriented. For each specimen, the computer-controlled camera was manually set to focus at the highest and lowest points of the spider’s body, then a series of pictures were taken at different focal planes and combined into one clear image using photo-stacking software. This spider is less than 1cm long.