Adult Male Hammerjawed Jumper (Zygoballus rufipes)
While walking back home, I decided to stop by a nearby field to check for bugs. Almost as soon as I approached the field, I spotted a huge adult female Phidippus audax clutching a particularly large yellow soldier beetle. I didn't have my camera with me, so I quickly headed towards home to get it.
About half way there, I noticed a little dark spot on a concrete column about 20 feet away. I walked over, hoping it would be a jumping spider, and sure enough it was! I instantly new it was not a species I am familiar with, and that it was male (enormous front arms, slender abdomen, weird palps, and the enormous protruding chelicerae). I coaxed him on to my left hand and continued my trip home with him perched on the end of my finger.
He proved a real pain to photograph, as he would run towards anything in front of him (the lens). Eventually (58 photos later) he settled down and allowed me to photograph him.
Really a beautiful spider, the size of those fangs are surely the largest I have seen for a spider this small (4mm).
Taken at ~4.5:1 magnification with the 28mm reversed on some extension tubes and cropped a bit.
Comments and faves
Marie☆Derennes, Abel y Ana - Cosa Nostra -, Muskegger (Merritt), jciv, and 72 other people added this photo to their favorites.
Thomas Shahan (45 months ago | reply)
A full body view from above (check out those front lengs!):
A side view at ~4.5:1 magnification:
And for those of you interested, here is the orginal, unedited photo straight out of the camera:
Abel y Ana - Cosa Nostra - (45 months ago | reply)
Amazing illumination!
A New Day [deleted] (45 months ago | reply)
You are amazing! I can't even believe your macros when I see them ;)
jorngenesen (45 months ago | reply)
cool beast :) little noise tho
zxgirl (45 months ago | reply)
Beautiful shots of a beautiful creature! I love the colored metallic-looking hairs in the side view, and the structure of the jaws and palps together - amazing! Those jaws look like they could deliver a painful bite...
Muskegger (Merritt) (45 months ago | reply)
All amazing! What great insight they provide on these wonderful creatures.
Thomas Shahan (45 months ago | reply)
Thanks everyone!
Jorngensen- Little noise as in the picture is noisy? Be specific, as I can now replace the photo with the pro-account.
That goes for everyone else as well. I edit my photos on a laptop with a shitty screen, so if anything looks weird about my photos, please tell me and I'll replace it.
zxgirl- Thanks, it's my first time to see this species. Really a beautiful spider. Small too, only about 4mm.
Z!KeepeR (45 months ago | reply)
That's great! I'm enjoing all of your macro shots %) They are exceptionaly beautiful.
Now I'm waiting for bellows to arrive - looking at your shots was like appetiser - I want to try some macro too 8)
tomatito rodriguez (45 months ago | reply)
I would like to see original in original size before shaprpening :)) not in that small version..because i thnik you have extraordinary piece of lens.. nice jumper nice colours.. great sharpness
Char3396 (45 months ago | reply)
Great detail! So amazing!
Joe Rainbow (45 months ago | reply)
Top shot on a fascinating creature. I have not seen this species of jumper before.
JKmedia (45 months ago | reply)
WoW those metallic eyes. Great hard processing
Goshinsky (45 months ago | reply)
Nice macro shot!!
mharoldsewell (45 months ago | reply)
AMAZING shot...!!
Jοey (45 months ago | reply)
Beautiful color detail on this jumper, and a colorful background as well! Very sharp as always.. fantastic work!! Btw, I don't see any noise, everything looks perfect from my crt.
FrankGuido (45 months ago | reply)
wow
bsmith4815 (45 months ago | reply)
this is just awesome! those white hairs almost look like scales!
mingocat (45 months ago | reply)
Fabulous work!
--
Seen in my contacts' photos. (?)
Darren5907 (45 months ago | reply)
sharpness on the eyes is awesome.
C.J. Herrick (45 months ago | reply)
phenomenal!
les sirolu [deleted] (45 months ago | reply)
One award from MacroFoted Group
www.flickr.com/groups/macrofoted/
Marco Pepe - www.mpgallery.it (45 months ago | reply)
Great shot. ;)
sure2talk (45 months ago | reply)
An exceptional macro, those eyes are truly amazing!
This beautiful photo was seen at:
"The World Up-Close (Nature Macro)".
Paul Iddon (45 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called "The .Macro. Group", and we'd love to have this added to the group!
One award from MacroFoted Group
www.flickr.com/groups/macrofoted/
Pascal Rouen (45 months ago | reply)
Fantastic macro ! Very impressive :-)
-- First seen in
* GArDen ViSitoRs * .
You're a welcome guest in our garden!
--
Seen next to a fellow photo of the group "GArDen ViSitoRs". (?)
----------------
This shot is amazing!
Please post your image to:
Macro Marvels (Invite Only) Post 1 Comment 2
Please tag with MacroMarvels
invited with SICI
davidricardoabrenica (45 months ago | reply)
very fascinating!!!
heyrod (45 months ago | reply)
Great introduction to this amazing little Jumper.
jorngenesen (45 months ago | reply)
the background is noise free, but i can see noise in the eyes.. mayb you used some sharpening
zigozago72 (45 months ago | reply)
amazing, what camera and lens do you use?
jcorreasg (45 months ago | reply)
Really nice macro-work. Regards
taracarollo (45 months ago | reply)
-- First seen in
* GArDen ViSitoRs * .
You're a welcome guest in our garden!
YOU ARE VERY BRAVE INDEED>>>>I WOULD NOT GO NEAR THAT THING>>>>
10thLife (45 months ago | reply)
Your photos creep me out so much and yet I can't stop looking!
10thLife (45 months ago | reply)
of spiders, that is
Mundo Poco (45 months ago | reply)
Fantastic jumper! Looks like those palps are made for cleaning those huge fangs.
Kurt (orionmystery.blogspot.com) (45 months ago | reply)
Canon should sponsor an MP-E65 +DSLR + MT24EX for you. Brilliant shots...esp considering your setup :)
tim_dollear (45 months ago | reply)
Huge props to you for carrying the spider and taking it home. I like spider pics but I am not sure I would go the extra mile like that. ;)
really nice shot.
-justk- (45 months ago | reply)
beautiful...
One award from MacroFoted Group
www.flickr.com/groups/macrofoted/
jo.pensel (45 months ago | reply)
Quels détails !
One award from MacroFoted Group
www.flickr.com/groups/macrofoted/
Joseph Choo (45 months ago | reply)
Lovely eyes!!!
Kvejlend (45 months ago | reply)
hi... :)
my english isn't good :D
I am from Slovakia
ale tato fotka je špica !!! nadherné sfarbenie očí
Tomatito prelož mu to :D
tomatito rodriguez (45 months ago | reply)
orionmystery...I dont think so you will get the same results from canon MPe65..This one is better than results from Mpe ...How i said before :) extraordinary lens..If I will buy the same 28 mm takumar pentax f2,8 I will not get the same results as Opo..The Opo's jumping spiders are the best quality on the internet I ever seen..(sharpness+magnification) I saw plenty of jumping spiders with Canon Mpe 65 but i never seen Opo's quality
Thomas Shahan (45 months ago | reply)
orionmystery- Ha, that would be great. I would stick with my current lenses, reject the flashes, but upgrade to Canon EOS 5D Mark II. That camera is ridiculously cool: a 21MP sensor, 1080p HD video and ISO 25,600! That would be quite an upgrade from my outdated, noisy, little 6MP Pentax.
uptaylorhill- Thanks, I wish National Geographic would have more insect/spider photos. And I owned all of those guitars at one time or another (plus quite a few more not listed).
tomatito rodrigues- I'm not sure how my lens setup compares to an MPE, but I am continually delighted by the results I get out of my 15 dollar lens and 6MP camera. I can only dream of what I could do with a big fancy Canon and some of my old lenses.
Elza Guevara (45 months ago | reply)
Hola, soy el administrador de un grupo llamado """☺"El show del Macro""The show of the Macro"☺ y nos encantaría agregar esto al grupo.
Bionic Rhonda, formally Cindersmom (45 months ago | reply)
Perfection attained... love your macro's and I am fascinated with insects.. so your images sing to me...
SMB(spidermanbryce) (45 months ago | reply)
wow another brilliant series!
Muiz Anwar (45 months ago | reply)
This may sounds like a stupid question - but am I right in thinking this spider has two eyes on the side of it's body? it sure looks like it according to those 3 additional images! :@
cyclebeastt (45 months ago | reply)
Another stunning example of your skill and persistence. Thank you so much for sharing these with us. I never realized how gorgeous these little animals are until I stumbled across your work.
Ysalis.net (45 months ago | reply)
Là encore, quelle lumière !
luis ferreira fotografia (45 months ago | reply)
You are a great photographer!!!
macropoulos (45 months ago | reply)
Beautiful speceis, awesome fangs! Wonderful colors in this photo.
--
Seen on your photo stream. (?)