# Zebra jumping spiders munching on mosquitoes (pics)



## Ecooper (Jul 10, 2013)

Ive been taking photos of zebra jumping spiders (_Salticus scenicus_) that have been hunting mosquitoes on the screen door to my kitchen. These spiders are really endearing in their movements and attitude...its too bad they are so tiny. Imagine how much fun they would be if they were the size of a tarantula! 

Males of the species are apparently darker in colour, so I believe that the first photo below is of a male, and the second is a female. If anyone can confirm that, please let me know. There are more photos of each specimen on my blog.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 camera; Zuiko 35mm macro lens; manual exposure (F8-F11 @ 1/200 sec); Olympus RF-11 ring flash (1/8-1/4 power); ISO: 200

Cheers,
EC
www.macrocritters.wordpress.com



P7040536 2 jumping spider on screen ernie cooper 2013 by ernie.cooper, on Flickr


P7110479 jumping spider screen 2 ernie cooper 2013 by ernie.cooper, on Flickr


----------



## MOREGONE (Jul 10, 2013)

First shot is really cool. Love how the back legs fade away and his eyes pop.

The 2nd image flat being from directly above and is a little busy with all the legs and grids.


----------



## dxqcanada (Jul 10, 2013)

I appreciate that they are eating Mosquitoes.


----------



## MOREGONE (Jul 10, 2013)

dxqcanada said:


> I appreciate that they are eating Mosquitoes.



Holy moly. I didn't even catch they were mosquito.  I thought they were dragonflies.


----------



## mwild (Jul 10, 2013)

I can't erase this from my mind now.  
I don't trust anything with that many legs and eyes!


----------



## dxqcanada (Jul 10, 2013)

mwild said:


> I can't erase this from my mind now.
> I don't trust anything with that many legs and eyes!



Would you rather have the Mosquitoes ?


----------



## DarkShadow (Jul 10, 2013)

I wish I had eight eyes for spares so I can switch them out.The two I have now are going south. #1 is the best of the duo IMO.


----------



## Ecooper (Jul 10, 2013)

_Mea culpa_

There is a quote circulating on _Facebook_ that basically says that you are doing science wrong if you don&#8217;t make mistakes; that you are doing science really wrong if you don&#8217;t correct those mistakes; and that you aren&#8217;t doing it at all if you don&#8217;t accept that you&#8217;re mistaken.

Well, it turns out that the darker spider is actually a different species: _Platycryptus_ (probably _P. californicus_). It also turns out that what I thought were mosquitoes were actually non-biting midges (chironomids). Sigh. I have re-edited my blog and corrected these mistakes. 

I must be doing GREAT science!

It&#8217;s interesting that two very similar species, one introduced and one native, were feeding on the same prey within inches of one another. I wonder whether the two species avoid each other (given their great vision) or if one ever preys on the other?

Cheers,
EC
macrocritters | What's a nice bug like you doing in a place like this??


----------



## Ecooper (Jul 10, 2013)

DarkShadow said:


> I wish I had eight eyes for spares so I can switch them out.The two I have now are going south. #1 is the best of the duo IMO.



I know how you feel!!! My vision gets worse every year...

EC


----------



## cgipson1 (Jul 10, 2013)

some nice shots! Small jumpers are a blast, aren't they?


----------

