This gallery highlights some of my personal favorites, based on criteria like topology, quality of texture and utility for Biology and Game Development. You can find additional models at my Sketchfab account
This model was made possible by the use of standardized imagery in microscopy. The specimen was dissected and later photographed with multistack techniques in dorsal, lateral, frontal and ventral views. The specimen (a female) was collected in a tropical rain forest in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
Models like this one are important for science communication and taxonomic endeveaour, allowing scientists to communicate spatial information about a species for comparative purposes.
This model was made for accuracy, and like other spider models, it relies on standardized imagery in microscopy as a reference to the anatomy of the spider. In contrast to other models however, this specimen is represented with high-poly, and annotated, making possible the comparison of the morphology of other arachnids and spiders with the family of jumping spiders Salticidae.
The specimen we observe is a male that belongs to the genus Mexigonus. Captured in Mexico City, its species name will probably change upon examination of the type species, collected by Frederick O. Cambridge in the early 1900's.
This is an anatomical approximation to the species Strophius hirsutus; a predator of the neotropical rainforests of Mexico. Strophius belongs to the spider family Thomisidae, and this high-poly model details some important characteristics of the species.
Anatomical approximation of the species W. tauricornis, distributed from the U.S. to Peru. This female specimen includes the digital modeling of the epigynum.
A revision of the genus Wagneriana was published by Herbert Levi in 1991. In his paper, Dr. Levi comments on a communication with W. Eberhard, and provides the following information about the life history of the species:
” W. tauricornis take their web down when not in use (usually but not always in the daytime) and then sit at exposed sites like the tipos of thin branches with their legs pressed to their bodies. Their irregular outlines make them hard to recognize as a spider. When they have an orb they generally hang in the hub or sit facing away with a line to the hub hel by leg IV (the closest to the abdomen).
This anatomical approximation of a female of the species Trachelas similis F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1899, found from the U.S. to Costa Rica depicts the anatomy of a female. Spiders in the genus Trachelas are particularly moody and confident, with a painful bite. However, they are also very successful predators. The chelicerae of this species are voluminous and robust, filled with muscle, just like those found in Araneidae. The presence of cheliceral teeth helps the spider "chew" their prey.
This is an anatomical approximation to a female specimen of a Castianeira species, similar in morphology to the described species C. rica Reiskind, 1969. This is a relatively high model with 34K polygons, making it suitable for videogame applications. Spiders in the genus Castianeria are interesting biological systems because the spider simulates ants in movements and behaviors. They are particularly fast sprinters and voraceous predators of arthropods in the leaf litter at ground level.
Spiders in the genus Synemosyna are among the favourite spiders in the world of arachnology, due to their extravagant shape and way of moving, resembling ants. This female Synemosyna mimicks ants in the genus Pseudomyrmex, and the model has a good topology, focused on the facial features of the spider and the animation of the anterior legs, waved by the spider to resemble antennae.