I was on the veranda of my house here in Djuma Game Reserve when I noticed a large horse fly buzzing by. The fly circled up to the ceiling when suddenly it plummeted to the floor. At first it was difficult to make out what was happening, there was much buzzing of wings and flailing about and I could just catch a glimpse of something hairy. It seemed as if the fly had caught something.

As the buzzing slowed and became more and more feeble, it became clear that in fact the fly was the victim. The predator staring at me was a jumping spider, member of the Salticidae family. The spider had caught the fly in mid-flight! It had sunk its fangs into its victim and was merely waiting for the fly to become paralyzed before sucking it dry.

Their vision also allows communications by visual means, such as the elaborate courtship dances that males perform. Salticids are perhaps as old and diverse as mammals, though not many humans know their world. Many salticids are colourful, they take on a variety of body forms, and some have disguises, looking like ants and other organisms. The bright colors and elaborate forms of some jumping spider species are involved in courtship.