A Zebra Not For Crossing

Alas for this poor unfortunate hoverfly it was the last Zebra Crossing it made!

The zebra in question is the Zebra Spider (Salticus scenicus) or as any kid who used to spend his time wandering around old quarries will tell you, the jumping spider.

You must have come across one of these on your window sills from time to time. Amazing insects. I came across this one looking for a blip out the back garden. It was climbing up the sunflower I blipped a few weeks back. It was having it's lunch. It was quite gruesome! I have left the beheading ones for my Flickr - Garden Macros Set at a later date!

The two amazing things about this insect are it's frontal eyes. They are huge in comparison to the rest of the spider, it gives them binocular vision to spot their prey.

The second is their courtship dance. The males do this weird leg vibrating thing that makes them look like they are moving in slow motion. I can't find a video of it on Youtube, but worth checking out if you can find one on the web!

So there you have it, one of my favourite little insects, and one I have been wanting to photograph for a while.

It's best viewed large by the way .. click the magnifying glass when you place your mouse over the picture.