Dec 20, 2013 6:30 AM

Gallery: We Went to the Amazon to Find Out What Makes These Weird Web-Tower Things

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A small sample of different stages of the structure as well as various surfaces that they were found on during this research trip. Some are pristine and new, while others have barely left a trace. *Photos: Courtesy Lary Reeves & Ariel Zambelich/WIRED*
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Entomologist Phil Torres takes a photo of one of the first structures the team discovered on this most recent trip on his iPhone, using his finger to show scale. Most were on cecropia trees (as shown here), while others have been spotted on other plants, like bamboo. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED*

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Entomologist Lary Reeves inspects a dry stem of ginger with one of the enigmatic structures while the rest of the team looks over his shoulder. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED*
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One of the structures, found on a bamboo stem. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED*

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To better understand what has been creating these mystery structures, Jeff Cremer (left) and Phil Torres take extreme macro photographs of a structure on a tree on Fish Pond Island. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED*
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A structure, found on a tree, with a ruler held to measure scale. So far, the tiny structures average about a half-centimeter in diameter. *Photo: Courtesy Lary Reeves*

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Using a modified bobby pin, Lary Reeves and Phil Torres pull a broken "spire" off the tree so they can photograph it more closely and attempt to see what's stored inside. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED*
Jeff Cremer
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An extreme macro shot of the structure's center spire, from above. *Photo: Courtesy Jeff Cremer/PeruNature.com*

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As they look over samples, Phil Torres, Lary Reeves, and Geena M. Hill discuss potential theories in Reeves' room at the Tambopata Research Center. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED*
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Samples of the structures, stored under drinking glasses in Reeves' room at the research center, that were found on several different plants, including cecropia, bamboo, ginger, dead leaves, live leaves, and earlier in 2013, a tarp. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED*

Jeff Cremer
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A macro shot of the underside of a toppled spire. The team hypothesized that the two curved objects inside (one more white, one more yellow) might be eggs of some sort. *Photo: Courtesy Jeff Cremer/PeruNature.com*
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As Jeff Cremer looks on, Phil Torres shows naturalist and rainforest guide Marlene Huaman a view of one of the spires under a microscope, which they borrowed from macaw researchers at the facility. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED*

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A silk spire is gently taped to a slide for viewing under a microscope. The team hoped they might be able to witness something hatching so they'd know what kind of organism may have built the structure. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED*
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Notes on a napkin list the questions the team hoped to find help in answering. *Photo: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED*

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