Jumpers ... rule :)

Jumping spiders have an exceptional way of sensing the world. Behavioral scientists are fascinated by the differences — and similarities — in how we view things. Thomas Shahan

Yours truly loves these little guys. Enchanting, funny and vanishingly quick, these tiny entities never cease to amaze and now, scientists are learning how these incredible creatures view their world.

Imagine that the world is shades of gray and a little blurry, almost as if your lousy peripheral vision has taken over. This fuzzy field of view extends so far that you can make out dim shapes and motion behind you as well; no need to turn your head. The one bright spot is an X-shaped splash of color that moves with your gaze. At the center of this splash, everything is crisp and clear — a small window of sharp, colorful detail in a gauzy grayscape. 

360 anyone?

A jumping spider’s eight eyes, magnified above with a scanning electron microscope, combine for a nearly 360-degree view of the world. The large, forward-facing principal eyes see in color and have the highest resolution known for such a small animal. Steve Gschmeissner/Science Source

Unlike bees and flies, which have compound eyes that merge information from hundreds or thousands of lenses into a single, pixelated mosaic image, the jumping spider has camera-type eyes, similar to those of humans and most other vertebrates. Each of the spider’s eyes has a single lens that focuses light onto a retina. 

The principal eyes — the big forward-facing ones that just beg us to anthropomorphize — have incredibly high resolution for creatures that are usually between 2 and 20 millimeters long. Their eyesight is sharper than any other spider’s and is the secret behind their ability to stalk and pounce on prey with impressive precision. Their sight is comparable to that of much larger animals like pigeons, cats and elephants. In fact, human visual acuity is only about five to 10 times better than a jumping spider’s.

Jumpers ... rule. :)

Addendum:: They're smart as hell as well. :)

“Jumping spiders are remarkably clever animals,” says visual ecologist Nathan Morehouse, who studies the spiders at the University of Cincinnati. “I always find it delightful when something like a humble jumping spider punctures our sense of biological superiority.”

One possible reason jumping spiders are so behaviorally advanced is that they have the sharpest vision known for animals their size, which is typically just 1 millimeter to 2.3 centimeters in length. They use this visual prowess to find, stalk, and pounce on their prey, rather than the better-known spider strategy of building a web and waiting for a meal to arrive.

I like them even more. :)