northeast-flora-and-fauna

Here's an Asiatic Wall Jumping Spider . As you've noticed, my apartment doorway attracts moths and mayflies, and so it's natural to expect it to also attract predators. This predator was attracted all the way from northern/western Asia. They specialize in living near human structures and preying on arthropods that live near us. Although they don't really belong here, I haven't read that they're considered a big threat to native species. And they're not a big threat size-wise either, being less than a half centimeter in size. Though their web-spinning cousins are considered classic spiders, the jumping spiders are actually the largest family of spiders. There are over 6000 known species, about 13% of all the spider species. As active hunters, they're also considered to have some of the best vision among arthropods. This spider has found some sorta mayfly for its meal. I sometimes wonder whether the mayflies I see in my doorway are alive or dead (mayflies...