- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Photographer: "Well, hello there, Jumping Spider! What 'cha doing?"
Jumping Spider: "Sunning myself, that's all."
Photographer: "And you're not looking for prey?
Jumping Spider: "I tried to hide in that red zinnia over there, and ambush a syrphid fly but I missed."
Photographer: "You missed?"
Jumping Spider: "I did."
Photographer: "I hear your vision is pretty good. Wikipedia says you jumping spiders have some of the best vision among arthropods and use it in courtship, hunting, and navigation. Says you have four pairs of eyes; three secondary pairs that are fixed and a principal pair that is movable."
Jumping Spider: "Well, I don't need an ophthalmologist, that's for sure. What else does Wikipedia say?"
Photographer: "That your ancestors have been around since the Eocene epoch, about 54 to 42 million year ago, according to the fossil records. You've had a lot of practice jumping around."
Jumping Spider: "Well, I missed that fly. Missed one yesterday, too. And the day before that."
Photographer: "Are you on the no-fly list?"
Jumping Spider: "I'm outta here."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Date: Sept. 9, 2023
Location: A flower bed in Vacaville, Calif.
Mantis: “Hi, it's me, your favorite praying mantis! I just popped in to say hello!”
Photographer: “Well, hello there, Ms. Stagmomantis limbata, but I think you have ulterior motives! You're not here to greet me and tell me to have a nice day, are you?”
Mantis: “What makes ya think that?”
Photographer: “Because you're hungry and you're an ambush predator and you're waiting to nail an unsuspecting bee or butterfly. But that's OK. Every living thing in this garden eats.”
Mantis: “Ya think?”
Photographer: “Sometimes.”
Mantis: “Well, tell me how I look.”
Photographer: “You look like your crept out of the shadows and your head is spinning in space and it somehow got detached from your body. I could ask you what motivational and existential predicaments are playing directive roles on your current behavior patterns, like I ask all my friends, but I won't. Be well.”
Mantis: “Bee? Where? Where?”
