How does a jumping spider, a spider that does not build a web, manage to capture a dragonfly? I don’t know how this Bold Jumping Spider (Phidippus audax) snagged an Eastern Pondhawk dragonfly (Erythemis simplicicollis), but I came upon the two of them after the capture had been completed and managed to snap a series of photographs of the action.
I am still working on the images and plan to do a longer posting, but wanted to give you a sneak preview.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
ooooooh, my. Great shot, creepy, sad (because I don’t like spiders), but nature in action for sure!
Life in the wild isn’t always pretty (but the pictures are cool).
Phidippus audax is a great favorite of mine. A beautiful example was living in one of our rock walls last year at this time and I was able to study her for quite a while until she disapperad, probably due to a particularly energetic nuthatch. I keep hoping another will make an appearance. Love the bright, metallic-green chelicerae!
Good catch, Mike! The Eastern Pondhawk dragonfly is a female, as indicated by the subgenital plate (looks like an upside-down black “shark fin”) located on the underside of abdominal segments 8 and 9. This is a key field marker for female Eastern Pondhawks since immature males are the same color green as mature females.
Spider — quick; Pondhawk — slow. Result = dinner. Nice photos, Mike.
Looks like a scene from a Japanese monster movie..:-)
great shots..
Oh dear God!! Great shots, Mike, but really creepy!
Fantastic photos. It’s always entertaining to see what you find in your outdoor adventures, and this is really cool.
That would have been fascinating to see the take down.
I’m still having a little trouble imagining how a dragonfly that acts so skittish when I try to photograph it managed to get caught by a spider. It most definitely would have been fascinating to see how it was done, but, alas, I arrived too late and only caught the aftermath.
Nice shots Mike!
[…] a follow-up to last week’s preview, here is the complete story of my recent encounter with a Bold Jumping Spider (Phidippus audax) and […]
Superb shots Mike 🙂