The Cutest Predator in Nature Goes Exploring

[00:00:00]I ended up finding one of the most cutest, but also the most curious jumping spider of my life one night.

[00:00:05]This was an adult female Phidippus whitmani, [music] commonly referred to as a Whitman's jumping spider.

[00:00:11]I first spotted her on top of my car. I can only assume that she was drawn to the many insects that were on it.

[00:00:17][music] Her first encounter was with the small species of moth, whom I initially thought was going to be a meal.

[00:00:22]She then had a run-in with a midge, which is a type of fly. Her very next encounter with a crane fly was pretty awkward to say the least.

[00:00:30]>> [music] >> After making her way down to the ground, she got the opportunity to walk under the wings of an elusive Actias luna, the luna moth.

[00:00:39]What a crazy experience that must have felt like given her size. The males of the Whitman's jumping spider are unique in the way that they mimic mutillid wasp, commonly referred to as velvet ants. Unlike the female's gray body coloration, the males are adorned in red, [music] which can trick predators into thinking that they're female velvet ants, which can inflict a powerful venomous sting.