Jumping Spider Portrait — Phidippus regius

Description

Jumping spiders of the family Salticidae possess the highest visual acuity of any animal relative to their body size — their four large anterior eyes provide binocular stereoscopic vision and colour discrimination well into the UV range. This portrait, made with a 100mm macro lens and a custom flash diffusion system at 3:1 reproduction, captures a large female Phidippus regius directly face-on — the two large forward-facing principal eyes dominating the facial composition, flanked by the smaller anterior median eyes and the four further-set secondary eyes that provide 360-degree visual coverage. The metallic green chelicerae (fangs) and the dense iridescent facial hair create a portrait of remarkable complexity and unusual visual connection between subject and viewer.