Jumping Spider Photography by Kozmic Dreams

My Photography of

"Tufts" and "Mr. Greenfangs"

(Two of my favorite pet jumping spiders)

Note: Unlike most of my other pages, this one proceeds with older photos of each spider at the top. Newest photos are at the bottom of each spider's section.

Tufts

July 25, 2007 - June 16, 2008

I named this spider "Tufts" because of the cute tufts of "hair" on her head. I've never found one of this species before---I think she is probably a Phidippus clarus. She has beautiful markings in varying shades of brown. She was first photographed on July 25, 2007.

I photographed her again on March 22, 2008, and even made a couple animations from her pictures...

Here she is photographed on my orchid (the first bloom since I bought it last year) on April 29, 2008. There are more photos of just the orchid here.

This photo was taken on June 3, 2008. Unfortunately, the petals were too slippery for Tufts and I only got one photo of her (didn't want her to fall and get hurt). I cropped it so you could see her face better. Sadly, this was her last photo, as I found her on her back, dead, on June 16, 2008. She was my friend for a little under a year, just like Biglegs.

Mr. Greenfangs

I had been keeping this spider as a pet for several months before I finally had a chance to photograph him on November 23, 2007. When first captured, he looked nothing like he does today. He shed his skin about a week ago and all of a sudden, he had huge front legs, just like Biglegs.

I photographed him a second time on March 22, 2008.

Here he is photographed on my orchid on April 29, 2008. I managed to photograph the underside of a jumping spider for the first time ever (he was climbing up one of his silk threads at the time and just reached the top of the petal when I got the photo).

These were taken on June 3, 2008. Just couldn't resist photographing him on the blooming peony flowers. I also photographed a mayfly and beetle on these peonies.