Jumping spiders

You’ve probably seen a spider jump. I learned today there’s an entire family of jumping spiders. In fact, according to the Canadian Arachnologist, our nearest neighbor Ontario has 44 known species of jumping spider, second only to British Columbia with 45. Apparently they’re cute little critters:

Although jumping spiders are rather small (3–10 mm), they are among the most beautiful and delightful of all arthropods. Salticids are easily distinguished from other spiders by their unique eye arrangement, habitus, general behaviour and mode of prey capture. Their eight eyes are arranged in three rows. The middle two eyes in the front row are the largest, giving jumping spiders acute binocular vision unmatched by other invertebrate visual systems.

And there’s much more to learn about them. Spiders are on my mind because I was at Harrison Lake State Park Thursday for an outdoor education program and Courtney Miller of Pettisville entertained kids with his knowledge about insects (and spiders). His passion for the insect world was so obvious. It’s very interesting to hear someone talk about what most people either overlook or stay clear of. That same passion can be found in the article linked above.