Day 2 was filled with glorious sunshine as we headed off, deep into high mountain country. The road was long, windy and rough with big drops down into remote gullies. I got chatting to the Scientist I was teamed up with for the day, Spider Man Joseph Schubert who is on a PhD quest to discover new species of jumping spiders. I was there as his field assistant and spent my day crouched in the leaf litter searching for these awesome and remarkably beautiful little creatures.
Jumping Spiders are in a family called of spiders called Salticidae. As the name suggests, these Spiders are incredible jumpers with amazing eyesight that helps them stalk and track their prey during the day. As I laid with my head in the leaf litter searching for spiders, Joseph called excitedly, “Maratus”! “Joseph what’s Maratus?”
