Phidippus audax

[advan]

I've been wanting to shoot jumpers for awhile but with the long winter and my luck, I haven't found any good subjects yet this year. Last week I put my neighbor's little girls to the task of capturing one if they run across one. Today as I pull in my driveway, just getting home from work, the girls came running over. They had found not one but two male Phidippus audax! As I just finish the photo shoot with the two males, the door bell rings, it was the girls again and they found another. This time a big(poss. gravid) female! With the very narrow DOF(Depth of Field) and the fact that their curious little selves never stop moving, these are much more difficult to shoot than tarantulas! hehe


Male Phidippus audax

Female Phidippus audax

Thanks for looking!

 

[web eviction]

Amazing shots chad! Haha I got a big girl sitting on a sac... Hit me up if you need some slings to shoot

 

[Philth]

Nice shots man.


Later, Tom

 

[papilio]

Boy, do I know how tough jumpers are! These are just outstanding!!

 

[Tarantula155]

Those are some of the most outstanding pictures of jumping spiders I have ever seen. Bravo.

 

[Boatman]

Awesome! I love it when they appear to "turn their heads" and look at you.

 

[Belladonna420]

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing!

 

[milehigh]

Love the pictures!!

 

[Silberrücken]

Very beautiful shots, Chad! :clap:

... are you sure the female is an audax, tho?

 

[Tenodera]

Every hair... Every hair is visible. Magnificent! When I try and photo these they usually want to jump on the lens and take a better look at me!

 

[Ciphor]

How did you get a picture of it laying on its back lol?

 

[Yentlequible]

How did you get a picture of it laying on its back lol?

Looked like it was hanging on to a small stick.

 

[dactylus]

Nice shots Chad! I LOVE the jumpers...

:biggrin:

 

[Deathmetal]

I caught a male at work last week. He was brilliant, and I wish I had taken him home. Alas, he lives on a tree now.

Awsome pics, hope that female has a few surprises for you!

 

[Ciphor]

Looked like it was hanging on to a small stick.

Didn't notice but now that you point it out, pretty obvious lol. Thanks!

 

[Yentlequible]

Do you have higher resolution pics?

 

[Solucki]

Very nice pics. They are indeed very tough to shoot. But if you think they're tough, you should try shooting some castianiera spp. I lost one today when feeding, they are the fastest things I've seen. Beyond teleportation.

 

[advan]

Amazing shots chad! Haha I got a big girl sitting on a sac... Hit me up if you need some slings to shoot

Thanks Chris! You should send some slings to Michael, I don't focus stack which would be needed to get decent shots of slings of that size!

Nice shots man.


Later, Tom

Thanks Tom!

Boy, do I know how tough jumpers are! These are just outstanding!!

Thanks Michael!

Those are some of the most outstanding pictures of jumping spiders I have ever seen. Bravo.

Thank you but you haven't ever been on Flickr have you.

Awesome! I love it when they appear to "turn their heads" and look at you.

They do turn their heads and watch you.

Great pictures! Thanks for sharing!

Love the pictures!!

Thanks guys!

Very beautiful shots, Chad! :clap:

... are you sure the female is an audax, tho?

Thanks Silb! I'm confident our P. audax have a regional difference in color and patterns form the east cost specimens. I am getting a confirmation from a local expert though.

Every hair... Every hair is visible. Magnificent! When I try and photo these they usually want to jump on the lens and take a better look at me!

The female hopped on the lens numerous times. LOL

How did you get a picture of it laying on its back lol?

Looked like it was hanging on to a small stick.

Didn't notice but now that you point it out, pretty obvious lol. Thanks!

Yes the small stick was a tooth pick I was using to guide her around. She discovered it wasn't a threat after a while and kept climbing up it and on to me. That shot was one of the times she climbed it and I set it down. She kept climbing "up" it upside down and I'm happy I got a shot in focus.

Nice shots Chad! I LOVE the jumpers...

:biggrin:

Thanks David!

I caught a male at work last week. He was brilliant, and I wish I had taken him home. Alas, he lives on a tree now.

Awsome pics, hope that female has a few surprises for you!

All three jumpers were let go the same night of the shoot. They needed to get back out there and make some babies!

Do you have higher resolution pics?

Yes I do! Why may I ask?

Very nice pics. They are indeed very tough to shoot. But if you think they're tough, you should try shooting some castianiera spp. I lost one today when feeding, they are the fastest things I've seen. Beyond teleportation.

Thanks, the reason they are so tough is because they never stop moving. I have plenty of tarantulas that could run laps around them in terms of speed. The issue is you can chase a tarantula around for a bit and get them to eventually stop moving and to sit still majority of the time. You can send me some Castianiera sp. and I would give it a shot.

 

[Solucki]

You can send me some Castianiera sp. and I would give it a shot.

Haha. I'm just jealous of your camera and photo skills. I'm still new and have a cheap camera. I would love to see some detailed pic of them though, they are quite beautiful. Tiger stripes and vivid colors.

 

[Silberrücken]

Thanks Silb! I'm confident our P. audax have a regional difference in color and patterns form the east cost specimens. I am getting a confirmation from a local expert though.

Chad, when you get confirmation, would you post it? I would be very interested in learning this. It would be very cool to know there are regional differences in Phidippus audax. Thanks!

Again, wonderful shots! :clap: