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Great shot of jumping spider
Dear Bug Man,
I Found a spider I have not seen before in the yard. I believe he is a jumping spider similar to the one in your site. His legs look furrier and lighter. He was 1/4 the size of a penny or smaller and zoomed side to side to avoid my foot. One strange thing, there was a 2nd one exactly like this one about 1′ from him (or her?) He seems to have been stepped on a bit and was not moving. The living spider would not leave him. He ran from me, but raced back to stay within a foot of the other one. He kept his eyes on the dead spider. I don’t think he killed the other spider, but he surely would not leave him or turn away from him despite the danger of my camera near. Due to my dogs roaming around, I put both spiders in a jar and relocated them over the small wall to a safe area that has no human traffic. And last I checked, he is still near his friend who has expired.
Steph Hart

Hi Steph,
Yes, this is a Jumping Spider. Many spiders in the genus Phidippus have a similar coloration. Here is a great site on North American Jumping Spiders.

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