January 01, 2001Animals/Wildlife Blog Archives |
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The amazing jumping spiderCan you imagine what it's like to have eight eyes and the ability to jump fifty times your height in distance? Well then you might have an idea of what it's like to be a jumping spider. The Family Salticidae, the jumping spiders (Salticides), is a diverse group of more than 5000 species of spiders that evolved at about the same time as mammals. Jumping spiders have eight eyes, four on the front of the head and four on the top anterior part of the head. They also have well-developed jumping skills, enabling them to leap up to fifty times their body length. Together, acute eyesight and powerful leaping ability, enable jumping spiders to be effective hunters. In fact, they behave in a similar manner to cats, by first spotting and stalking prey from a distance and then, using their powerful jumping skills to catch prey off-guard and pounce in for the capture. Jumping spiders are charming creatures, when approached the will turn and look at you. If you move, they often follow you with their gaze, changing body angle to always keep you well within the sight range of one of their eight eyes.
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