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Arizona’s Landscape
By Frederick Lee
Predatory Nature of Jumping Spiders
by Tan Chuan-Yean
»Predatory Nature of
Jumping Spiders
By Tan Chuan-Yean
Category: Macro
»Barbet brood
successfully raised
By Graeme GUY;
photographer: Pok Zin
I suppose anyone who has been in Singapore long enough would have seen one of these 8legged creatures, either in the home, parks or sometimes on their cars (well I found them quite
often on my car). It is one of the largest family of spiders and many of them are very cute looking.
Who are they? Well, these are the Jumping Spiders. These spiders make up the family Salticidae,
order Aranaeae and class Arachnida.
»Birds in My Backyard
— Punggol 21
By James WONG
»The Joys of Bird
Photography
By FONG Chee Wai
Why are they called jumping spiders? Well, that’s because they are known for their excellent
jumping skills. They are known to leap up to 40 times their body length! They are easily
recognizable with their large black eyes. They have a total of 8 eyes, of which 4 are grouped on
the face (the 2 big eyes are termed the Anterior Median Eyes, and the 2 smaller eyes to the sides
are termed Anterior Lateral eyes), and another 4 on the top of the head (more properly termed the
carapace) where 2 medium eyes are strategically placed for viewing the back and there are 2 very
small eyes in front of them. These little fellas may look cute, but they can be quite tenacious
predators.
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Kites, Episode 3.
By Hilary HOE
»India: Keoladeo and
Rathambore Parks
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to the Old Way!
By Edsel ROMERO
Photograph 1: Large black eyes of a Heavy
Jumper
»Nocturnal delight –
Giant Flying Squirrel
By Fong Chee Wai
I recently had a chance to witness a rare event in which a small sized Heavy Jumper (Hyllus diardi) managed to take on a much larger Lynx »Pulau Kukup Trip
(NPS field trip, 16th
Spider (Oxyopidae). The Lynx spider itself was feasting on a Black-and-White Spiny Spider(Gasteracantha kuhlii).
October, 2004)
By Graeme Guy
The Lynx was happily feasting on its meal when the Heavy Jumper spotted it.
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Photograph 2: Lynx eating Spiny spider side view
Photograph 3: Top view
Photograph 4:
Spotted! by the JS
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By V. Quek, G. Guy, D.
Ho
»Sri Lanka: Around the
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From the images shown the size difference between the predator and prey is readily apparent. I was surprised at the apparent intention of the By Graeme GUY
Jumper. I was thinking that it must be out of its mind to challenge such a large prey. Well, the Jumper, slowly crept towards the Lynx, very slowly, »Total Solar Eclipse 4th December 2002
and got very near to it.
By David BROADHEAD
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Photograph 5:The Approach
Photograph 6: Stalking
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http://www.naturephotosociety.org.sg/ASP/Article.asp?DBAPublishDate=8/31/2006
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Within a split second, the Heavy Jumper pounced on the Lynx and grabbed it right
between the carapace and the abdomen. The Lynx lost its own prey from its mouth and
ended up in the jaws of the Heavy Jumper. During the scuffle, they must have fallen off the
leaf, but the Heavy Jumper was able to hold itself suspended by its own safety line. The
Jumping Spider is known to spew out a safety line of thread whenever it jumps. This is
done so that in the event that if it misses its landing spot and falls, the safety line would be
able to hold on to it to enable the jumper to recover its original location. The silk thread is
very strong, and as seen in the picture, it can hold the weight of the Jumper as well as the
large Lynx! The Lynx remained suspended for some time, most likely until the injected
venom did its job.
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By FONG Chee Wai
Photograph 7: The Catch (notice the safety line
at the rear)
»Backyard of discovery
By John MILBANK
»Underwater
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By POH Liong Kiat
Later the Jumper started hoisting its disabled prey and this is also illustrated in a series of images.
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By FONG Chee Wai
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By Graeme GUY
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Photograph 8 Up to the leave...
Photograph 9: Up the branch...
Photograph 10: Its MINE!
The predatory success of the Jumping spiders most likely depends on the placement and specialization of the array of eyes. The two large Anterior
Median Eyes are long and tubular, and have a narrow field of view but these provide superior resolution and greater magnification. However with
the narrow field of view (much like binoculars) the spider has to move the eyes in different directions to see its surroundings. Unlike humans,
however, the spider cannot rotate its eyes. Instead, it moves the retina inside the eyes to view in different directions.
Photograph 11: Approach
Photograph 12: Closer
On another occasion I spotted another Jumping Spider
species eating a mosquito or some small fly species.
With its excellent vision, it was able to spot it over 50cm
away. The Jumper slowly crept forward and pounced
on the fly. The approach towards the fly is also
illustrated in a series of images. The pace of the action
in this case was much faster compared with the Heavy
Jumper, which took its time to stalk its prey. This
species of Jumper moved quickly, paused briefly and
jumped.
Photograph 13: Kill
How do you tell where the Jumping spider is looking? This is illustrated in the following photo. When the jumping spider is looking at you, the eye is
fully black. If it is brown, it is looking elsewhere. It is interesting to note that the pair of Anterior Median Eyes can be moved independently!
http://www.naturephotosociety.org.sg/ASP/Article.asp?DBAPublishDate=8/31/2006
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Photograph 14
Photograph number 14 shows an example of this independently controlled vision. Its left eye is looking at the camera lens while its right eye, is
only partially looking at in the same direction. See the brown and black portions in the eye? The black portion is the retina.
This species utilizes it visual ability to successfully hunt its prey. No wonder these Salticidae spiders have expanded to be the largest family of
spiders. Definitely built for the kill!
All photographs belongs to the Author. Further photographs can be seen from the website:
http://tchuanye.smugmug.com/
More Photos (Hi Res)
References:
1) Jumping Spider Vision by Wayne Maddison
http://tolweb.org/accessory/Jumping_Spider_Vision?acc_id=1946
2) Everything about Jumping spiders
http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/arachnids/spiders/jumping_spider/
3) Jumping Spider from Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumping_spider
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