April 23rd, 2006
little king kong
Last weekend, while hiking along Black Ance Road at Murphy’s Point Provincial Park, we stopped for a siesta on the banks of Black Creek. This is the same location where Sabrina found our first snake of the season.
I tossed my jacket on the ground and lay on my side while listening to the snoring chorus of nearby Leopard frogs. Soon after, a furry, black jumping spider (Family Salticidae) appeared on my jacket — seeming to glare at me rather intently. I picked up a leaf and held it out in front of the spider. It accepted my invitation and hopped aboard. I reached for my camera with the intention of taking a few photos. The spider had other ideas and immediately hopped to the back of my hand, ran in circles a couple of times before making a heroic leap onto the leaf litter about a foot below — roughly the spider equivalent of hopping off of a 20 story building. It perched on another leaf, which I picked up and turned in order to shoot a few photos (see above and below – click on images to see larger version). This time, the spider was quite accommodating and posed for a number of photos before once again leaping onto my hand. This time, it ran under my palm and popped back out between my fingers, coyly peering at me as I raised my hand to get a better look at my companion. Apparently this was too much for the spider as it immediately lept to the leaf litter once more. Between its bristly, black fuzz and its reckless leaps and bounds, there was something that made King Kong come to mind.
The spider could have strayed off, but instead, it hung around, occasionally skipping through the leaf litter, before stopping to regard me once more. At one point, it climbed aboard a piece of driftwood to a better vantage point from which to glare at me.
I’m unsure of the spider’s ID — probably a species of Phidippus. As mentioned in my recent post on spider eyes, most Jumping spiders (Salticidae) can be recognized by their large anterior median eyes (center front pair of eyes) along with their “jumping” action and somewhat pugnacious attitude.
The Black Ance Road jumping spider isn’t the first that has reminded me of King Kong. A couple of years ago, I photographed what is, I think, a Phidippus clarus. When I put the photo up on my computer screen, I was surprised to find that the spider bore an uncanny resemblence to a gorilla or chimpanzee. Check out the photo (below) and see what I mean.
Tags: Jumping spider, Salticidae, Phidippus, Phidippus clarus