Monday color 16 1/2

jumping spider Phidippus with unidentified beetle
I’ve been busy largely with yard work today, but I stumbled across this one and had to feature it. A quite large jumping spider, likely Phidippus audax, was contemplatively grasping some iridescent beetle that was still struggling, and the flash rig brought out the collection of colors pretty well. By the way, “quite large,” translates to, “about the length of your thumbnail.” It’s all relative.

It occurs to me as I type this that I have never looked up why some jumping spider species have such brilliant green chelicerae, and it’s possible that no one has determined that yet. Also captured in the image is the green sheen to the anterior median (front and center) eyes, which I’ve seen numerous times before and also cannot explain. Hey, I just takes ’em – someone else can explains ’em. This post is for displaying the lovely complementary colors, and interior decorators are welcome and invited to base their decorating themes on this image. I suggest calling it Phidippus Audacity

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