In the middle of the still smoldering pine forest after a burn, I found this gorgeous Phidippus cardinalis lass guarding her clutch of eggs under a small log. People sometimes ask me how invertebrates survive prescribed burns, and, well, this is one way. Respect. 鈾ワ笍
Phidippus purpuratus is a large jumping spider most often found in Canada and the northern US, where they live on the ground or among boulders in exposed, rocky habitats like mountaintops and sea cliffs. This is a rather different lifestyle from some of their more arboreal cousins, and I assume they rely on the warmth of sun-baked rocks to sustain activity in the cold and windswept places they inhabit.
They鈥檙e well camouflaged among the lichen covered granite on this mountain in Maine, probably because they have to be- more conspicuously colored jumpers like P. regius and audax often have the option to drop into dense vegetation when threatened, but I saw these hunting on bare rock with nowhere to run should they face the misfortune of being spotted by a bird.
A sweet fuzzy Phidippus californicus, California jumping spider, watching the world from a patch of Swiss chard. Private commission for @halffizzbin. I love these cute little teddy bears so much 馃挆
Salute Stack & Others, recently cleaned up and adjusted for print and publishing. This is an adult female, having recently had her ultimate molt. Commonly called the Canopy Jumper.