Phidippus carneus - Red-backed Jumping Spider
An encounter with a Red-backed Jumping Spider in Southern Arizona.
_Phidippus carneus_ - Jumping Spider. In Patagonia, Arizona 2004-09-20. Notice the eye glint on the two largest, forward-facing eyes.
A couple of Phidippus carneus photographs from Arizona. These spiders are very fun to watch - they are active and alert, moving in fits and starts. They are very visually oriented, too. I always get the feeling that they are watching me as much as I am watching them.
Always such a treat to see these little fellows. I say “little”, but they are actually pretty large, for being Jumping Spiders. Maybe a centimeter long?
_Phidippus carneus_ in the Santa Rita Mountains, 2003-08-25. The nice thing about this photo is that you can see the arrangement of the spider’s eyes. There are two large forward-facing eyes, presumably to give the spider good depth perception via binocular vision. The smaller eyes are arranged in an wide arc around the spider’s head, giving wide peripheral vision as well.