This Saturday, a Phidippus audax was staking out our amethyst basil plant, and in doing so it provided me with a lot of great of photo opportunities against a colorful background. Both thankfully and unfortunately, the windy weather limited me to a handful of usable photos to share.

An active jumping spider can be very entertaining to observe. Sometimes it creeps stealthily, sometimes it jumps courageously, sometimes it scurries away to hide, and sometimes it stops to peer curiously over the edge of a leaf or up at you. The next time you find one of these spiders, take some time to watch it – the only thing to be afraid of is that you just might take a liking to these incredible little creatures.