Spider on a leaf

The spider watches me carefully as I attempt to photograph him. North Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Today I will share this lovely little spider I found running about on the leaves of a durian (the ‘stinky fruit’ for westerners) tree in our yard in Sulawesi.

This is, of course, a jumping spider (Salticidae), though not being an arachnologist I am not sure as to species. Yes, it is watching me with those big eyes. In fact, it kept darting around to the other side of the leaf, until I was eventually able to hold the leaf back and slowly get close enough for a photo.

Jumping spiders have excellent binocular vision, which allows them to judge the distance from one leaf to another, or whether they are close enough to a fly to have a shot at catching it. Instead of the compound eyes typical of arthropods,they see through giant single lenses, which may give them a visual perspective similar to that of vertebrates, including us. While insects are believed to see a blurry, ‘pixelated’ image, jumping spiders may perceive a single clear picture. Of course, this is all speculation: who can get inside the eyes, or the mind, of a spider?

The spider wanders off in search of prey among the durian leaves.

After pausing for my photo, the spider quickly disappeared among the leaves in search of prey- a fly, a bug, a small caterpillar, these spiders seem to recognize the ants which abound on the tree as not being good eating, and steer clear of them.

So it is with so much natural history- a brief glimpse into another world, a deep and ancient realm which ultimately remains a mystery, illuminated here and there by our observations.

My spider today shares its tree with at least two other species of jumping spider, one of which is this wonderful creature, bearing fantastic colors of turquoise and orange, as though freshly painted…

And this one. You would be forgiven for thinking it was an ant- but count the legs!

This Indonesian jumping spider is a near-perfect ant mimic. Looking closely, you will see that it has eights legs instead of six. Such an appearence helps protect the spider from its enemies- stinging, spiky ants are usually avoided by predators. Photo by the author.

To those of you have yet to discover the joy of ‘bug watching’, I advise you to start as soon as possible. Next time you walk in the garden or go for a hike, stop to watch the bees buzzing around a patch of flowers, follow a jumping spider on its hunt through the undergrowth, or watch the precision flying of dragonflies across a pond. Society would be better off for more appreciation of these overlooked creatures that live all around us and indeed, through their relationships with plants, form the basis of our environment.

I will be back soon with another full length article. As always, thank you for your interest!