This past Friday I spotted one of my favorite spiders, the Bold Jumping Spider (Phidippus audax), in the reeds adjacent to the boardwalk at Huntley Meadows Park. The spider was pretty active and jumped a couple of times, but I managed to get a shot that highlights its multiple eyes and colorful “fangs.”
“Here’s looking at you, kid.”
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Excellent
Thanks, Victor.
This is one of my favorite spiders, too. One of the features that set this one apart is the metallic green sheen of the chelicerae, to which the fangs are attached at their ventral extremity. Good shot, Mike.
Thanks for the explanation of this spider’s anatomy, Gary. I wasn’t sure which parts were the fangs and which were other mouth parts. If I had been by myself, I might have been able to steady myself to get a better shot or pulled out my tripod, which I was carrying. However, I was with a couple of friends and they were excited to see the spider, their first jumping spider, and they thought it was great when they got to see the spider jump. I would have preferred that it stay in one place.
So Mike, just curious…for your macro work what sedative do you use to sedate your subjects? 🙂
Oh, I though initially that you were asking me what sedative I was using on myself to slow down my actions to be able to approach the subjects in stealth mode. Most of my macro shots are a combination of luck, patience, and persistence. It helps too that I am using a 180mm macro lens, which gives me the 1:1 magnification of a true macro without having to get as close to the subject.
🙂 Thanks Mike. Beautiful images always!
That’s impressive! The front view appears to be the right one for this guy.
The front view with the eyes is definitely the shot to go for. It the lighting is right, and it wasn’t for this shot, you can catch your own reflection in the spider’s eyes. As you probably noticed in this shot, the combination of my closeness to the spider and the f-stop that I used meant my depth of field was really narrow, so I was glad that all of those eyes were relatively in focus.
I wonder if all those eyes means that hunting is easier. Nice shot!
What strange looking things they are up close.
All of those eyes give these spiders a distinctive look that I really like.
I’m amazed that I’m pressing like to your spider. That has to be a first for me. This picture is amazing. The eyes are amazing. Gorgeous! 🙂
Many people find spiders creepy, but it’s hard not to like the amazing jumping spiders, with those incredible eyes.
I hate to agree, but I have to! 🙂