I’ve been tending to about 120 baby jumping spiders (P. audax) that emerged from their egg sac this week

He’s trying to strike a chord

There’s a Trans Fairy?? With estrogen?? WTF did I get on her/his/their naughty list? Was I supposed to leave a thigh high stocking over the fireplace?

Not an expert but I think you’re right. The Wikipedia page OP linked describes the phenomenon this way:

Fata Morgana mirages significantly distort the object or objects on which they are based, often such that the object is completely unrecognizable… The mirage comprises several inverted (upside down) and upright images stacked on top of one another. Fata Morgana mirages also show alternating compressed and stretched zones.

They include a pretty good example with a container ship:

Scientology + Klingons… Isn’t that just Battlefield Earth?

https://youtu.be/A-RfHC91Ewc

I’m absolutely gaping with excitement for these games!

It’s still a really cool piece of art! Their other works are really fascinating and well-executed too - I especially like the kiwi with the hairy butthole and the… uh… scrotumfruit?

Not trying to downplay how cool the piece is, but the artists website says it’s acrylic urethane with real Daikon leaves:

There’s a few spiders that do this (I know some orb-weavers do) and IIRC scientists don’t know for sure why, though it’s been hypothesized that it could be either to confuse potential predators or to make themselves and their webs obvious to larger animals.

Some orb weavers like Argiopes even make a thick zigzag construction in their web called a stabilimentum that we don’t really understand the function of, but one theory is to make the web more visually obvious so larger animals don’t accidentally barrel into them.

Spiders are neat.