On a certain morning not long ago, I occupied my usual post at the computer well before dawn, while Mosey, the cat and my office assistant, dusted my mouse with her tail in her usual way. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her head tilt suddenly up, almost vertical, to the corner of the room. Some *thing* above the dark window frame had caught Mosey's eye, and the hunter was locked onto the prey.
Of course, this sharp-eyed, furry desk accessory often "sees" things that only exist in her own freakish feline mind. But this time, I gave her the benefit of the doubt. Looking up to see her imagined target, there WAS something there! The light on my phone illuminated a definite speck of something alive, stuttering along very slightly and very slowly where the wall meets the ceiling.
Certain that the overhead lights would show me a housefly or stinkbug or ladybird beetle--a blah creature that would hold Mosey's interest but not much of my own. Yet my Inner Biologist could not return to the task at hand until I had given a name to the distraction.
AHA! Turns out our visitor and the object of the cat's rapt attention was a Bold Jumping Spider--my old friend from the summer of 1970. (A tale told most likely in Part Two of this storyline.) I would have swatted fly or stinkbug. But any jumping spider in the house is alway allowed to stay.
This very common spider is generally harmless (unless you're a fruit fly) and its Latin name is Phiddipus audax. The species epithet, audax, from which we get the English word *audacious* means BOLD, and with good reason. You can't intimidate these brazen little army tanks. They will literally jump on the finger that pokes at them.
Another obvious common name for this same creature based on its appearance and not behavior is easier to remember: The White-Spotted Jumping Spider.
🕸️ The Face to Face With a Jumping Spider 🕸️
As moving specks on the ceiling, jumping spiders are not so interesting. But when you get to know them at very close range and over the course of several months, you may come to appreciate what a marvelous match between form and function these much-maligned many-legged predators actually are, as we will see!
I hope as you come to know this one tiny denizen of your yard or office ceiling (there may one looking at you right now through its 8 eyes!) that you will reframe your attitude and relationship to this and ALL "insignificant and creepy" lifeforms in your shared space. (That we’ll talk about in part 4 or 5 of this Friday Feature into February.)
That's a tall order I know, but let's see where we settle out after giving our attention to the Pale Blue Blobs in our lives. (I'll get to that too, in a later post.)
We'll ease into this potentially uneasy subject by seeing HOW Jumping Spiders jump, and then watching them in action.
And I'll go out on a limb here:
By the time we are done with this topic over several posts, one or more of you will host your own spider in a jar, perhaps by proxy through one of your grandchildren who will keep it well fed and learn to know it as they have known no other joint-legged animal. It could change their perspective on Nature for the long term. Maybe yours, too!
► Get to Know The Bold Jumping Spider.
► Watch them jump in S L O W Motion
Share this with the young people in your life for the videos, and come back for more spider biophilia. Yes, you too can admire (if not love) an 8-legged alien.
It helps to know you’re out there. If you think of somebody who might join us here, I’d appreciate an introduction by subscription to this “newsletter.” Thanks!