Zebra jumping spiders munching on mosquitoes (pics)

[Ecooper]

I’ve been taking photos of zebra jumping spiders (Salticus scenicus) that have been hunting mosquitoes on the screen door to my kitchen. These spiders are really endearing in their movements and “attitude”...it’s too bad they are so tiny. Imagine how much fun they would be if they were the size of a tarantula!

Males of the species are apparently darker in colour, so I believe that the first photo below is of a male, and the second is a female. If anyone can confirm that, please let me know. There are more photos of each specimen on my blog.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 camera; Zuiko 35mm macro lens; manual exposure (F8-F11 @ 1/200 sec); Olympus RF-11 ring flash (1/8-1/4 power); ISO: 200

Cheers,

EC

www.macrocritters.wordpress.com

P7040536 2 jumping spider on screen ernie cooper 2013 by ernie.cooper, on Flickr

P7110479 jumping spider screen 2 ernie cooper 2013 by ernie.cooper, on Flickr

 

[agent A]

yup u got a pair there! they r beautiful!!

 

[Ecooper]

Mea culpa

There is a quote circulating on Facebook that basically says that you are doing science wrong if you don’t make mistakes; that you are doing science really wrong if you don’t correct those mistakes; and that you aren’t doing it at all if you don’t accept that you’re mistaken.

Well, it turns out that the darker spider is actually a different species: Platycryptus (probably P. californicus). It also turns out that what I thought were mosquitoes were actually non-biting midges (chironomids). Sigh. I have re-edited my blog and corrected these mistakes.

I must be doing GREAT science!

It’s interesting that two very similar species, one introduced and one native, were feeding on the same prey within inches of one another. I wonder whether the two species avoid each other (given their great vision) or if one ever preys on the other?

Cheers,

EC

www.macrocritters.wordpress.com

 

[Digger]

Beautiful imaging, Cooper. And this, from a confirmed arachnophobic ! Although I do love the jumpers (they're small and smart).

 

[kunturman]

Your photos makes justice to their beauty. Thank you for sharing.

 

[HappyFish]

And now I`m looking at ring flash units because of you. Love the weird/odd/spooky look it gives to the eyes.