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Oh dear! Normally I don't condone killing animals for the heck of it, but I knowingly committed homicide today. Eating lunch at a picnic table I was joined by a Jumping Spider (Salticidae). I watched him for a while, he watched me for a while. I tried blowing on him to make him move (the last thing I wanted was for him to jump into my food). Instead of skittering away he chose to hunker down and weather the storm. Amused by this I decided to let him be.
Along came an Aphid (Aphididae) who perched on my lunch bag. I couldn't stop staring at him. He was such a brilliant neon green color that he seemed to be lit from the inside. I used my finger to steer him around the bag. Strangely he allowed me to do this for a minute before jumping down to the table. I pushed him around again, amusing myself by making him do my bidding (muwhahaha). Then it struck me. What if I steered him near the jumping spider? Hmmm. Without a second thought I did just that. I watched in fascination as the spider caught sight of the aphid. He flattened his body to the table then..... WHAM! Jumped and caught the aphid in his front legs. The aphid never saw it coming! The spider got a firm hold of its prey and slowly rotated it into a better position to consume it. I have never watched a spider catch its meal in person. In my opinion lunch at Jones Lake is far better then anything on TV!
Along came an Aphid (Aphididae) who perched on my lunch bag. I couldn't stop staring at him. He was such a brilliant neon green color that he seemed to be lit from the inside. I used my finger to steer him around the bag. Strangely he allowed me to do this for a minute before jumping down to the table. I pushed him around again, amusing myself by making him do my bidding (muwhahaha). Then it struck me. What if I steered him near the jumping spider? Hmmm. Without a second thought I did just that. I watched in fascination as the spider caught sight of the aphid. He flattened his body to the table then..... WHAM! Jumped and caught the aphid in his front legs. The aphid never saw it coming! The spider got a firm hold of its prey and slowly rotated it into a better position to consume it. I have never watched a spider catch its meal in person. In my opinion lunch at Jones Lake is far better then anything on TV!
Picture found at: PBase
1 comment:
That is really cool.
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