Jumping Spider!

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 00:24:01 GMT

I'm up on the mountain today and this creature walked by:

Boreal Jumping Spider or Phidippus clarus

He's a jumping spider that usually lives farther north in say - Colorado. But going up the mountain, you get colder climate, so right now I'm in a mixed pine-fir forest.

He (and it probably is a he based on color) was walking on the asphalt path where people were likely to walk by.
I made sure it got off the beaten path safely using a couple folders.

I found this creature in my house a few months ago.

California Jumping Spider or Phidippus californicus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phidippus_californicus

He's more adapted to the desert. His colors mimic a velvet ant, a potently venomous wasp, so he'll be left alone.

He turned to look at me the entire time, occasionally looking to either side.

Jumping spiders have very good eyesight and 15-20 minutes of working memory (working memory means how long you can keep a piece of information in your memory to think about it or solve the problem at hand), excellent for a spider, they also turn to investigate anything new that comes into their field of view. If hunting something significantly larger than them, or a spider, they will circle behind and pounce. These species also have a "freeze" signal for members of their species, they put up their front legs and the other spider will stop stalking them or trying to mate with them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_spider

Here's another encounter with a jumping spider that warms my heart and makes me and Raven laugh:

http://www.beingbrazen.com/2010/08/jumping-spider-moves-in.html

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The Extremophile's Lair

Jumping Spider!