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.
The only other spiders I know of who do anything similar are tarantula who I will note have a proto-brain but even they seem to be a bit more instinctual. Pretty neat that the little jumpers seem to be the smarter ones, either that or tarantula are simply far more cautious.
The are definitely figuring stuff out!
We have a ladle meant to hold spoons on the stove while they’re not being used to stir. We had a jumping spider appear in it once… which means we didn’t use that for weeks. Only after we didn’t see it move for days did we realize he had died. Loved that lil guy. Now we can set our spoons down again, though.
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 are pretty friendly and also quite considerate. Females, when they aren’t disturbed and find enough food, often spend their entire life in their web and never leaving it. So it’s not actually that big of a deal to have some in or around your house if you know where they are and leave them alone. The males do wander around sometimes, but they are actually harmless.
They are pretty friendly and also quite considerate
Apt description!
They’re also the cutest spiders so they get a pass. The wolf spiders better stay hidden though (plus they hunt the other spider tenants that actually eat the bugs I don’t want in my house)
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 briefly enjoyed this same revelation until it jumped onto my face.
The little guy just wanted to give you a hug
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.
Goddamnit, even on a post about spiders we gotta bring in this incel shit?
I’m tired, boss.
It could not be more obviously a joke.
Why does every topic necessitate a joke about women wanting men with money?
WHY?
We’re talking about spiders ffs
Gold digger jokes aren’t even clever anymore, like at least have more creativity jesus christ
In fairness I would love a woman with money
what an extreme reaction to such an innocuous joke. don’t die on the hill of being “that guy”
That user is notoriously self-righteousness about grandstanding whenever gender is even slightly mentioned. Even when other women tell her she’s being obnoxious.
Oh no, a known transphobe on this site doesn’t like me? I’m devastated
i noticed. the self awareness has left the building for that individual. lol
Oh no, I’m being a killjoy for all the jokes about misogyny, rape, and pedophilia in this site?
Yeah I’m the one in the wrong.
I’ve got messages in my inbox justifying electing a rapist regardless of political identity and we can’t even talk about spiders without someone making jokes about how shitty women are.
Whatever.
we can’t even talk about spiders without someone making jokes about how shitty women are.
Funny thing coming back to this thread and answering a few more replies about people’s admiration for spiders, it kind of hit me that once you collapse your initial comment about the light-hearted joke, people can actually just talk about spiders. Like all the off topic talk was caused by you and no one else.
The initial joke is even biologically accurate.
The cute ones tend to have higher career salaries on average, so they are able to attract female spiders to mate with.
Not in all, but some (very prominently the “peacock spiders”), the males absolutely have to be cute and perform a literal dance … with a high chance of getting eaten by the female if they don’t live up to her standards.
So yeah, that joke is actually pretty good if you knew a fucking thing about spider biology. But you had to come here and inject your brand of self-righteous feminism into it. Great job.
nobody is raping anyone in this thread, damn. you’re like the PETA of women’s rights.
If women as a rule preferred men with good personalities over men with a lot of money, then why would Elon Musk have so many kids?
Try being a broke man with a decent personality and then tell me where golddigger jokes come from, goddamn.
Or just go over to reddit dating advice and count how many times a woman explains to a guy that even though his looks and personality might be okay, if he’s making minimum wage then he’s not going to be viewed as a viable long-term partner…
The second largest family of spiders are literally the “money spiders”.
That justifies making misogynistic jokes, you’re right /s
You should consider some gold digging, maybe you can buy yourself a sense of humour.
My god shut the fuck up
They’re so adorable, very smart as well. Their spacial awareness is insane.
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:
Its crazy that they dream, and their front big eyes are basically telephoto lenses that can move in their head and even rotate, so cool!
Idk about that most of the spiders I’ve seen are way bigger than the jumping spiders.
There are some jumping spider chonkers in the genus Phidippus, but generally the family is on the smaller side. North America is hogging all the big jumpers.
been noticing more of them around here this year
::::3
👉👉👉👈👈👈
They also have the most amazing eyes in the animal kingdom. We’re pretty sure that they have depth perception based on the different refractive indices of light.
Which not only gives them depth perception, but depth perception using only a single eye.
And they’re so damn cute too
All spiders are jumping spiders if you get scared enough. 😱
Seem very smart also.
