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I tried to pick up a spider the other day to throw it out, never saw a little fella jumping that furiously.
My mom, who was a huge arachnophobe, had a pet jumping spider living on her desk at work. Seeing my arachnophobic mother on good terms with one is the best PR jumping spiders could ask for.
I normally really hate spiders but for some reason jumping spiders are cute enough to bypass the arachnophobia. But there is something deeply unsettling about making eye contact with and appreciating one of these little guys but realizing your face is conceivably within jumping range.
The thing that got me to really like spiders is when I learned that spiders are actually tiny mechs! Their legs are powered by hydraulics, rather than directly moved by muscles! I just thought that was so adorable!
It's actually both! Most spiders will extend their leg using "hydraulics" which is really just their blood (but called hemolymph). But the contraction is usually done by flexor muscles. That's also the reason dead spiders curl up. No more blood pressure means the muscles win.
Most spiders just hang out in a web. But jumping spiders...it seems like there's something going on in there. Like they're figuring something out.
My (recently deceased) pet jumper really made me grasp that most animal life on Earth has a sense of self and desires beyond basic survival.
I mean, I knew these things as concepts before, some old study decades ago concluded that earthworms have characteristics of consciousness, if not full blown consciousness and self awareness, but there is a difference between reading about it, and experiencing it firsthand.
My spider absolutely loved sunsets. She had a particular spot in her enclosure that she would sit on, and watch the sunset every day. No reason for it beyond she liked to see it. Driven by purely biological needs, jumpers will either be hunting, hiding, or looking for a mate, but they exhibit "recreational" activities.
You can kind of communicate with a jumping spider too. They wiggle their chelicerae to communicate visually. I could put my fingers up near my mouth, and mimic the movements my spider would do. After a few repetitions, she would start to mimic me. I don't thing any grand concepts were conveyed, but I'm pretty sure she was recognizing mimicry from something that was not a spider.
They're really smart, and each one has their own personality, problem is, they don't live very long. Her last day was a hard day to say the least.
They are absolutely fascinating. Sure, I'm certain a lot of videos ham it up a bit because of the way they look around and do certain things but generally animals with that much visual acuity have a lot of processing power to deal with the info so its not a far stretch at all to imagine there is something more to their intelligence.
Spiders in the genus Portia show behaviour which is really fascinating, not only do they use their eyes to actively hunt but they 'plan' attack routes - they can see their prey, plan a route to get closer, which involves breaking line of sight for extended periods yet still remember where to go and where the prey was. They also exhibit strong learning traits and pattern recognition. Absolutely fascinating, and adorable, things. I really want to get a pet jumping spider, one of the big ones.
They're also the smartest, and are an excellent way to work toward wearing down visceral fear toward spiders. Their personalities and forward-facing eyes make it a lot easier to understand them. You can see what they're looking at, and their observant little movements make them come across as curious in a way that's absolutely adorable once you get used to the legs.
I would strongly urge anyone who is fearful of spiders to have some interactions with jumping spiders. It can go a long way toward making you feel at peace with animals that are always around us and mean us no harm.
I've been trying this since I had an encounter with one a few years back and noticed how frickin cute they actually are. They have this very interesting way of moving, like a robot, plus they have baby animal proportions making them appear cute. And if you observe them for a bit you'll notice them observing you right back. You can almost see the gears turning in their little heads.
I still have a pretty severe case of arachnophobia but it has gotten heaps better with just watching these cute little spider puppies from a safe distance.
I really like jumping spiders. They are fun to be around and have in the house. I just wish they were more common here, but instead we have widow spiders that make me nervous when I work around them. I just try to pretend they are friendly, too...
They're some of the cutest, too!
Well, yeah, that's natural selection. The cute ones tend to have higher career salaries on average, so they are able to attract female spiders to mate with.
Jumping spiders challenge a lot of we used to think about spiders. There are so many unique and amazing things about them, especially concerning their intelligence: