So today’s winner of the photography challenge is the jumping spider that was hanging around the patio table and chairs.
We usually have several small spiders hanging around the patio table and chairs during the summer. I know that there are other spiders (such as the black widow) out in the yard under rocks and behind logs—I leave those guys alone.
So the jumping spider family (Salticidae) is the largest spider family with 610 recognized living and fossilized genera and over 5800 described species.
Other cool facts about jumping spiders include:
Depending on the species, their diet can range from small insect to plant matter, nectar, or even small frogs (for the larger jumping spiders).
They can sing and dance. Seriously check out some of the youtube videos on the peacock spiders.
They have sensory hairs that detect vibrations and send signals to their brain, and act as “ears”.
While I’m not a big fan of spiders, I go out of my way to leave them alone and hopefully not walk through a web in the morning. The only time I will kill a spider is if I recognize that it is a harmful spider that could hurt me (brown recluse or black widow), it breaks the rule and I see it (but again mainly if it is a brown recluse or black widow), or I don’t realize that I walk right through it’s web (usually first thing in the morning leaving).
I am going to try to see if I can get some more pictures of jumping spiders (as they are the most common “friendly” spiders that I see outdoors) this summer. This way I’m stepping outside of my comfort zone, and controlling how I react to seeing certain things.
Reference: mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/jumping-spider
