Just a brief video clip here, that I captured while after other subjects back in September – I didn’t take any still photos and the spider was in view for only a minute, so this is all I have to identify it.
My own search through BugGuide’s photos turned up nothing that looked like a good match, and I haven’t tried contacting them to find out if there’s a way to show them this video. The closest two species that I found are:
Neither of these seems correct, judging from both the pattern on the abdomen and the coloration of the forelegs; the average size of P. galathea also seems way too small. This was perhaps the largest jumping spider species that I’ve ever seen, and there was a noticeable tap when it landed on my arm; where it jumped from to get there, I can’t say, but I’d been sitting in the grass waiting for anoles to do something interesting, so it probably launched itself from my shoulder or thereabouts.
If you have any suggestions, or better yet a positive ID, you can comment here or reach me through the Contact Page, and I’ll update this post. Kindly don’t tell me that it’s an extremely rare species that you would have paid big bucks for – I’ve been having a good year.