Jumping Spider

Jumping spider, Marpissa muscosa, in my back garden in Hayes.  1 June 2011.

Unlike the Garden Spider in my last post, this beast is a hunter, and relies on good eyesight to see its prey. When it gets close, it makes a sudden leap and catches the victim that way. There is an amazing variety of food-catching techniques among spiders.

Small jumping spiders often turn up in the house on hot days. They explore vertical surfaces, moving up and down frmces and walls, and can easily come through open windows without an awareness of the consequences.

So, huge eyes, nimbleness and sturdy legs are its main characteristics; it also has camouflaging markings, as does another common jumping spider, the aptly named Zebrina, though they don't work very well on this unnaturally plain background.

You can see in the poto below that this Marpissa has two of its eyes set further back, so that it can see if anything is creeping up on it. This one actually stopped and looked up at me when I got close; pity I didn't get a good shot of that!

Jumping spider, Marpissa muscosa, on a fence in my back garden in Hayes.  1 June 2011.