Those glassy eyes and shiny green chelicerae make the bold jumper hard to look away from. The great vision and stored venom each respectively provide make it even harder for their prey to get away.
For those unfortunates with arachnophobia, this photo must be somewhere between unsettling and terrifying (or maybe itchy and clawing out your eyes). For me, it’s a bit mesmerizing. It also makes me wonder what the spider is looking at. I believe it was in the Cockrell Butterfly Center at the Houston Museum of Natural History where I saw an exhibit that purported to show what the world looks like through a jumping spider’s eyes. Pretty good for an arthropod, though I’m not sure they explained how they replicated jumper vision.
Anyway, I recommend immersion therapy for arachnophobia. I’m not sure if looking at my pictures constantly counts, but I won’t mind if you do!
On that note, have a good weekend, everyone.
BugPhoto.net 
Beautiful! :) For me, it’s very mesmerizing too! I think spiders are beautiful and wonderful creatures! I miss the late animal advocate, Steve Irwin; he would always point out how truly beautiful many of nature’s creatures are… including snakes and spiders! Like one of my posts suggests, try to look at them without past (accumulated) prejudice.
Thanks, Thomas! Spiders in particular seem to invoke a sort of primitive prejudice, which is unfortunate because they are so amazing on the whole. I figure if I keep sharing images of them I’ll change a few minds, at least.
“Loook into my eyes.” I’m afraid if I looked up and saw that set of eyes staring at me, I’d be frozen in my footsteps. I’m not going to say spiders are beautiful, but it is a beautiful photo. I’m might fall into the category of an arachnophobe. :)
Well they are bit more of a curiousity at real-life scale, and (I hope) less imposing. And you know if you told the guy who, as a child, fell out of a tree when a bee harmlessly buzzed by that he’d be crouching around plants loaded with wasps and bees nosing a camera a few inches away from them, well I would’ve said you were nuts. :)