// Function for handling arguments like ?species=Araneus diadematus

function getArgs() {
    var args = new Object(); // can be Array too
    var query = location.search.substring(1); 
    var pairs = query.split("&"); 
    for(var i = 0; i < pairs.length; i++) {
         var pair=pairs[i].split('=');
         var argname = pair[0]
         var value = pair[1]
	 args[argname] =  unescape(value); 
    }
    return args;
}

//var args = getArgs();
//document.writeln("species=" + species);
//document.writeln("?species=" + args['species']);