Look into my eyes: Extreme close-ups reveal hypnotic gaze of tiny jumping spiders

By Daily Mail Reporter

Star of the show: This Saitis Barbipes has stunning blue eyes - but took three weeks of patience to photograph


Staring menacingly at the camera these exotic looking creatures look like monsters straight out of a horror film.

But, despite their appearance, these creatures are actually jumping spiders, which measure a tiny six millimetres - and they live in this country.

The harmless arachnids, which are capable of jumping up to six times their own height, can be found in grassy meadows and on the walls of houses on sunny days.


Catch them if you can: This Phidippus Audax (left) and Euophrys Frontalis can be found in grassy meadows in the English countryside


Photographer Tomas Rak scours British towns and countryside looking for them to capture on film with macro photography.

The result is an extraordinary picture, which reveals tiny flecks of colour in each spider's eye and every hair on its body.

Mr Rak, 28, said he'd had a very positive response to his incredible photography.

He added: 'People are usually amazed by these jumping spiders, they ask questions like how is it possible to get so close and what I do with spiders to get a shot.


Nimble: Jumping spiders, like this Phidippus Regius, are capable of leaping up to six times their own height


'Macro photography is very interesting. It allows you to see lots of detail that you would not see with your eyes alone, that's why I love it.'

After finding the tiny creatures, Mr Rak takes them to his home in London to be photographed.

He uses a digital camera and macro lens, which allows him to get an extreme close up.


Fine detail: Macro photography captures flecks of colour and every hair on this Saitis Barbipes (left) and Phidippus Audax (right)


He said: 'I usually find them when I am looking carefully on the walls around me during a sunny day when they try to catch a prey.

'It's not easy to them at first find, but when you've see your first jumping spider, what it looks like, their movements, you will be able to find another one easily.'

Some photographers put the spiders into a fridge or freezer because it subdues them and makes it easier to take their picture.

But Mr Rak doesn't do this, so getting the perfect shot can take time and patience. One of his favourite spiders, a blue-eyed Saitis Barbipes, took an agonising three weeks to get.


Here's looking at you kid: The Phidippus Regius cocks his head for a close-up


No fear: Some insect photographers place their subjects in the freezer to make them more docile. But Tomas Rak refuses to do so. Pictured is the Euophrys Frontalis


He said: 'This spider is probably the only jumping spider which has so blue eyes, he is very photogenic.

'I managed to take a portrait shot of him and it is probably my best photo of jumping spider - it was very hard to get because the spider was moving around.

'As I do not put insect into fridge or freezer to make it motionless, I was waiting for this shot for three weeks.'

After getting his shot Mr Rak, releases his subjects back into the wild where he found them.


Fancy seeing you here: A Marpissa Muscosa confronts a Salticus scenicus


source: dailymail