Bold Jumper

Not a lot going on.  Things are growing, nothing new blooming.  Yesterday while I was cleaning up the orchid bench, I took a pot that had no plant in it and removed it.  It did have a bunch of white webby stuff that I assumed was an old spider nest.  Well a bit later in the day I saw a Bold Jumping Spider (Phidippus audax) moving around on the bench, climbing over pots and baskets as if it were looking for something but I didn't think it was hunting.  Then it hit me.  It was not an old nest, it was an active nest!  I teased apart the edge of the nest and saw lots of baby spiders moving around.  So, I put the pot with the nest in it (covered by a grape leaf) back on the bench in the area mom was looking and I watched.  She found the nest, and then went in to repair the damage I had done.  In the second picture you can see her guarding the entrance to her nest.  If you've never watched one of these things moving around, you should.  It makes you very glad you are not an insect!