Spooky Spider

I looked through my files to see if I could find something that would be a good representation for Halloween and this is what I came up with. This is a bold jumping spider. He looks big and scary but in real life he was probably less then a half inch. Jumping spiders have excellent eye sight. They do not catch their prey in a web, like spiders that have poor eye sight. Instead they stalk their prey just like larger predators.

Bold Jumping Spider

When most people think of spiders they think of them sitting in a web catching flies, however not all spiders catch their prey using a web. Most members of the jumping spider family hunt their prey by first stalking it and then pouncing. There are over 5000 described species in the jumping spider family, which makes it the largest of the spider families. Jumping spider all have four pairs of eyes with especially large anterior median eyes, those on the front of their face. They have excellent eye sight which they use to locate their prey. After they sneak closer to the prey they will alter the increase the blood pressure in their back two pairs of legs which will launch them, 10 to 50 times their body length, at the prey. They are able to spin webs and do use them for egg laying. They may also use webbing to hide or for a lifeline when jumping. This is a bold jumping spider which is common through out most of the United States.