Here is a daring jumping spider macro photoshoot for this #butterflyday and for the #insectpub group by @whatisnew
The latin name of this spider is Phidippus audax. The common name is daring jumping spider.
I think they get their common name from being so tame. They will often jump right into your hand. This gal crawled on the leaf I was holding to tap my thumbnail.
These spiders aren't harmful at all and won't bite unless you really squeeze them. Many people keep them as pets.
I found this one on my balcony and was able to catch it by just putting my hand in front of it and she hopped on. So I brought her inside for my macro lens.
I used my pressed leaf collection as a prop for her to crawl on while I took photos. Here you can see the bright orange spot on her back. This means she is still young, as they age this spot eventually turns white. The average lifespan of these spiders is two years so she is probably only half a year old.
It was difficult to try and get a face shot. They really are active and like to jump on the camera lens. You can king of see her iridescent green fangs in this shot. They use this color to identify each other so they don't accidentally eat each other.
Here is a better shot of her face and fangs. Notice the pedipalps, the two smaller arms in front of her fangs. This is how you figure out if they are male or female. Females have shorter smaller pedipalps while the males have larger ones.
In this shot she had just jumped off the leaf and set a safety line. They typically lay down a safety line before they jump just in case the drop is too steep. They can then repel down to a safe distance.
Sorry for the blur but this is an example where she jumped from a high place and ended up relying on her safety line. I had to reel her back up onto the leaf for more shots lol.
the photoshoot was a bit tricky, she was busy jumping all over the place and crawling on my hand at times instead of sitting nicely on the leaf backdrops. They are pretty small spiders not even as big as a thumbnail, fortunately they are tame and don't run and hide like most spiders.
This is probably the best shot of the photoshoot. A nice clear view of her face with an even tertiary leaf background. Perhaps next time I find one of these spiders I'll keep it as a pet for a while to try and get shots of it hunting. I tend to find them during summer and they are quite common where I live.
Happy #butterflyday :-)