A nice thing about holidays is the chance to allow one’s obsessions to take their proper place among one’s daily activities.
Thus, when I spotted an interesting looking little jumping spider climbing up the wall of our family crib here in Hāwea yesterday, I was able to drop what I was doing, capture it, and take some photos.
It was a very fast mover, and in order to get it to slow down a bit I had to cheat and put it in the fridge. About half an hour later I could take it outside into the sunlight for some shots.
OK, so it’s not hugely interesting, this one, but it’s new to me. It’s clearly a close relation of that large Black-Headed jumping spider (Trite planiceps) we see a lot of up north in Wellington and that I have photographed lots of in the past. However this specimen at least was quite a bit smaller (about 7mm long) and instead of a green stripe on its abdomen had an interesting, and distinctive, little cluster of dots.
Hopefully I can find another to see whether this is typical or not. But even if I don’t, at least I’ve found another jumping spider to add to my List Of Jumping Spiders I Have Found - and what’s more, one that’s not mentioned in my usual go-to book on New Zealand arachnids. Win!
