Phidippus clarus, Brilliant Jumping Spider, Caught by a Larger Brilliant Jumper when it Jumped to a Lower Leaf at Barnes Tallgrass Prairie Remnant, Racine Co., WI. July 17, 2023

In the early morning of July 17, 2023, I was photographing brilliant jumpers at a Barnes tallgrass prairie remnant. I had seen 15 Phidippus clarus and gotten good pictures of 9 when I spotted a small brilliant jumper on a shrub leaf, about 28 inches from the ground. I froze when I saw this spider, and it froze when it saw me. After backing up and getting my vintage Olympus camera ready, I carefully approached my subject. This little jumper was wary, and kept moving, even while I was still. As I focused on this small spider, I noticed a larger brilliant jumper on a leaf which was about 6 inches below and a couple of inches behind the leaf my subject spider was on. The larger spider was moving back and forth, seemingly following the movements of the silhouette of the little jumper above.

Just as I thought I had a shot, the small Phidippus clarus jumped off the leaf, right onto the leaf below. I got a fuzzy picture of the large jumper catching him, then took about 30 pics of the larger spider with the small spider prey. It took less than half a minute from my missed shot of the small spider jumping, to the time the larger spider caught and carried it off.

I’ve attached a few of the better pictures. I wonder…if I hadn’t been there at this opportune moment, and startled the small spider, would it have stayed on the leaf above, or at least seen the larger P. clarus on the leaf below?

Posted on December 11, 2023 02:11 AM by bkis