Why Jumping Spiders Have the Coolest (and DEADLIEST) Eyes in Nature

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Why do spiders have 8 eyes? It’s a seemingly simple question with a surprisingly complex answer. We’ll be hanging out with some jumping spiders (the cutest of all spiders) and some jumping spider researchers to investigate how a thumbnail-sized creature with a poppy seed-sized brain ended up evolving some of the most advanced eyes in the animal kingdom, overcoming a few limitations of physics in the process. We’ll watch as scientists study these spiders in a special eye tracking machine and learn how having 8 eyes instead of two gives these elite predators almost 360˚ vision and almost hawk-level depth perception and resolution.

Big thanks to:

Additional footage credits:
Spider retinal movements - Daniel Zurek
Spider courtship videos - Daniel Zurek, Sebastian Echeverri, and Nathan Morehouse (Morehouse Lab, University of Cincinnati)

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This might be the best spider video on the whole web… hehe, get it?

besmart
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A while back there was a little fly in my room that was driving me nuts. But then it flew into a corner and was quiet for a while. I thought maybe now I could sneak up on it. But when I located it, I saw that a jumping spider had actually beaten me to it. Thank you, little jumping spider, you have done me a great service.

VidralliaArchives
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A jumping spider chasing laser pointer just like a cat is the cutest thing ever

mastergecko
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The spider researcher/PhD candidate is my best-friend Alex. His research is awesome and he is making a lot of progress in the field!! It was awesome seeing him on this!!

TheKnockout
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You need to talk about jumping spider cognition. Their eyes have some amazing properties, but their brains are even more fascinating.
How can such a tiny creature solve problems the way they do?
Surely these cute guys hold many secrets for future robotics engineers to emulate.

lubricatedgoat
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I've been a big fan of jumping spiders since I was young. I'd often carry a zebra spider around with me at school and always loved how curious and self-aware they always seem to be, gazing at everything with awe with those big round eyes.

LadyMoonweb
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I have a pretty hard-core fear of spiders, like full-blown arachnophobia. Yet jumping spiders don't seem to even register in my monkey brain as " *spider.* " I just find them super cute and fascinating to watch. They're such intelligent little creatures, especially considering they have a brain that is on average the size of a sesame seed! But when you watch th, you can actually see them investigating and processing the world around them. The comparison to cats is actually really apt. I really loved this video. Great job, Joe!

semaj_
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It's always so heartwarming to see more people championing the appreciation of the wonderful creature that is a spider.

sdfghjasdfghjk
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I was watching a documentary that talked about how jumping spiders could map the canopy around them in 3D so they could backtrack through the branches in order to come back out on a certain branch just above their intended prey. They can plan...they think. They have a limited memory, which is something other spiders cannot boast. I've had so many people talk about how they train their tarantulas. Yea...can't be done. Their brains don't work that way, but you'll never convince them. lol Jumpers are amazing!

PaulaLPope
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In my garden there are thousands of jumping spiders crawling around. They come in different sizes and colors. It's amazing

clintjoshuaorilla
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All of them look so unrealisticly cute that sometimes I start to think that they are 3D modeled.

valentyn.kostiuk
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Jumping spiders are so unique compared to other spiders. Their little personalities and adorable eyes are just too much not to love! Plus they’re so smart, they put other spiders to shame.

Growing up in the countryside of rural of North Texas, I’d see them all the time and came to appreciate them since they’re not aggressive or venomous like other spiders, but instead helpful to eating insects.

jm
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Im exactly the same way. I used to hate spiders untill I found a really really tiny one on my dads porch and it fascinated me. Then over the course of years I've become more appreciative of spiders however Jumping spiders will always have a special place in my heart, cause they have so much personality and are very cute.

hydrofrog
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You dropped the ball when you never told us what spiders look at during the dancing mating rituals

Scottbewilding
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Best part of the video, Joe interacting and talking to the spider like it's a wee baby.

nerd_alert
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When I was nine years old, I watched a zebra jumping spider track and catch a tiny inchworm. It watched the worm and hid from it whenever it moved its head in the spider’s direction. It reminded me of the nature docs I’d seen where some predatory cat was stalking its prey. It displayed all of the same moves! I’ve been a fan of these little predators ever since.

buddywhatshisname
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Brilliant explanation of how the eyes on these little beasts work. The best I've seen. And thank you for using some of my footage! @2:39

LookCloser
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Finally, I am literally waiting for you to cover jumping spiders. They are adorable and awesome at the same time

bitwisedevs
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I love jumping spiders. I've never thought about it before, but they do have a lot of similarities with cats, which I also love.

NickLavic
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Very interesting. Regarding the "best" eyes, the Mantis shrimp might beat spiders, at least with the spectrum of wavelengths they are sensitive to.
Another cool characteristic about jumpers is the way they can travel. In a breeze, they can point their spinnerettes down wind and start releasing a strand into the breeze. As soon as the wind drag is great enough, they will let go of the surface they are standing on and fly away. That's called "Ballooning".
I have also seen them reverse that when the breeze is strong enough. they will anchor a thread on the edge of a surface, and step off, letting the silk out until they contact another surface... like repelling - laterally.
It's amazing what you will see if you sit quietly and pay attention.

Laserblade