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Home > TME Community > Share Your Work > Macro > Tiny Jumping Spider
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Tiny Jumping Spider
Started March 19, 2009 @ 7:05pm by RickT
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RickT
Posts: 1,694 |
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| Tiny Jumping Spider | March 19, 2009 @ 7:05pm | I took the time today to do something I hadn't done in ages: I sat down in a spot with no obvious photo ops and closely examined the ground for some minutes. (Having free time is a small benefit of being unemployed and having no particular place I had to be. Hey, trying to be positive here!) Finally a small motion caught my eye, and then this tiny (3 to 4 mm) jumping spider made a 3 inch jump from one blade of grass to another. Carefully maneuvering around to try for a clear shot, I eventually took 18 pictures. These are the 2 that are most in focus.
These shots are severely cropped in order to make the spider obvious. Working from about a foot away, with the lens set at its closest focus, it was sometimes almost impossible to find this little guy among the clutter and leaf litter on the ground. Looking at the second shot now, I think I ought to reprocess it to take down some of the highlights on the carapace. But, dang, those eyes came out great!
(Okay, that should be enough text to warn off any true arachnophobes  )
Canon 40D, Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens, ISO 800, f/9, 1/320sec.
Canon 40D, Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens, ISO 800, f/9, 1/160sec.
RickT
Boulder, Colorado
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwteichler/
PPY |
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Wes
Posts: 8,139 |
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| March 19, 2009 @ 7:55pm | I love to shoot spiders, Rick, although there are some in the community who are too excited at looking at them. One name, in particular, Becky, I know about for sure. Spiders have such great designs on their bodies and their eyes are gorgeous, in my way of thinking. You did a great job of getting a focus on this little fellow. I like both of them. I enjoy the catch lights in the first one but all four eyes in the second. Sitting and waiting does pay off, doesn't. At least you didn't have to climb a mountain to get these shots.
Wes |
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Catherine
Posts: 404 |
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| March 20, 2009 @ 12:56am | Love the eyes and the fuzzy little legs. I don't much like spiders in real life, but they make great subjects!
C
Catherine |
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Flo
Posts: 15,844 |
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| March 20, 2009 @ 8:59am | What a cute little guy! The fact that you got 2 out of 18 shots in focus is fantastic! I doubt I'd do as well.
I can see 6 eyes. Look on the sides of its head towards the back.
Flo - PPY
"May we live in peace without weeping. May our joy outline the lives we touch without ceasing. And may our love fill the world, angel wings beating." aziza
http://photos.tonebytone.com |
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RickT
Posts: 1,694 |
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| March 20, 2009 @ 9:36am | Yes, 6 is the correct answer! Salticids have 6 eyes rather than the more standard spidery 8. It's those 2 big headlights, though, that allow them to not only hunt but accurately gauge and make those big jumps.
RickT
Boulder, Colorado
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwteichler/
PPY |
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Flo
Posts: 15,844 |
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| Spider Handbook? | March 20, 2009 @ 10:46am | Rick, since you seem to have studied spiders, what do you use as an ID handbook?
Flo - PPY
"May we live in peace without weeping. May our joy outline the lives we touch without ceasing. And may our love fill the world, angel wings beating." aziza
http://photos.tonebytone.com |
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RickT
Posts: 1,694 |
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| March 20, 2009 @ 4:34pm | Flo, there aren't any generally available books that are much good for ID'ing spiders (according to my mentor Dr. Paula Cushing, curator at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science). Often plants and animals have "keys" written for them, where you can follow a bunch of either/or questions through branch logic to arrive at a positive identification. 20 years ago I had one for spiders, but it was withdrawn by the publisher because it arrived at the wrong answer too often. Dr. Cushing recommends (surprise!) Spiders and Their Kin, a "Golden Guide" from St. Martins Press for general use. She has recently co-authored Spiders of North America published through the American Arachnological Society, which can help you key a spider sometimes down to the genus. It's a bit pricey, at $65. Trying to identify a spider as an actual species is asking for academic trouble, complicated by "lumpers" and "splitters". Lumpers (I'm one) tend to view things as more of a continuum, and don't accept slight morphological differences like colors and leg length as a sign of a new species. Splitters like to seize on every little difference in individuals to declare a new species (and perhaps have the opportunity to name it after someone near and dear). DNA analysis will gradually lead us out of this Linnean wilderness, but it's still too expensive and time consuming for day-in/day-out use. To key out a spider even to family usually requires a microscope of at least 10x, because you need to check things like tarsal claws, spinneret configurations, ventral slits--aauugghh!
This little guy, by the way, was identified by Dr. Cushing as an immature male jumping spider. Because of its youth, even a determination of genus isn't possible. I got the male part of her ID (it's the mitten-like configuration of the pedipalps), but I'll have to quiz her about how you figure out a spider's maturity. Do you look for acne, or whether it's rapidly sending text messages, or what?
RickT
Boulder, Colorado
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rwteichler/
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Wes
Posts: 8,139 |
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| March 20, 2009 @ 6:07pm | Rick, this might help some people out in general identification if they are so inclined:
http://www.cirrusimage.com/
Wes |
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Flo
Posts: 15,844 |
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| March 21, 2009 @ 8:13am | Rick, thanks so much for your explanation. Perhaps size is a general indicator of a spider's maturity. I think they shed their skins when they grow. And there may not be an adult of any species of jumping spiders that is this tiny.
Wes, that's a fantastic find, that website. I've bookmarked it. Thanks.
Flo - PPY
"May we live in peace without weeping. May our joy outline the lives we touch without ceasing. And may our love fill the world, angel wings beating." aziza
http://photos.tonebytone.com |
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JPetty
Posts: 1,253 |
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| March 21, 2009 @ 9:10pm | oh WOW you did a nice job on this little guy. And yes, Dang, the eyes came out great.
Janet
Go ahead and play with the images. I would ask that when you post them on other sites (such as Flikr, Photobucket, etc.) that you credit my photography. I would do the same for you! Other than that, I'm E Z T D B W. |
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assignment
Community Assignment #53
Picture Window
Due Date: September 16, 2011 |
Have you heard about the Backyard Shots Photography Guide "Street Portraiture with CraigTanner"?
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