It’s easy to go through life not noticing the small things and get detached from the natural world. It’s a never-ending quest, like an unquenchable thirst for more spiders, and I owe it largely to macro insect photography, which allowed me to see them more clearly, document species I saw and share this beauty with others. I’ve found nearly 60 species of jumping spider just here in Oklahoma, including five new (to me) species just this last year. With large inquisitive eyes, wild ornamentation and curious behavior, they stood out from other spiders I had seen. After making eye contact with one of these amazing spiders, I was in love the realization that such beauty, intelligence and diversity could exist in just one family of spiders was a revelation. ![]() Specifically, it was noticing local jumping spiders for the first time-probably Phidippus audax, the “bold jumper”- that got me hooked. It wasn’t until I started turning lenses backward in high school that a deep interest in entomology and arachnology took root. There’s untold beauty all around us deserving of a closer look. To meet them on such an intimate level can change one’s view of these oft-misunderstood animals. ![]() ![]() Once you can see the beauty and incredible behavior of these tiny animals, it’s difficult to fear or loathe them. The phylum Arthropoda includes insects, arachnids and other related invertebrates with an exoskeleton. Pentax K-x, reversed SMC Pentax-M 50mm F1.7 on extension tubes, off-camera diffused flash.
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