Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Jumping Spider

A couple of days ago, on 13 August 2014, I had a volunteer shift and afterwards, as I sometimes do, drove to the Reader Rock Garden. Thought I'd better see what flowers were in bloom, as summer is slipping away so fast and I haven't taken all that many colourful images of flowers, garden or wild. They come in so handy during the seven long months of winter that are not all that far away now, breaking the monotony of "white" photos. Some of the flowers were well past their prime, but can still make an interesting shot. A lot of the Baneberry plants were putting on a great display of these gorgeous red, shiny berries. Some of the Baneberry plants had clusters of white berries (Actaea pachypoda). I saw something move and when I looked closer at this cluster, I noticed this tiny black and white Jumping Spider. Got a shot just before he jumped and disappeared. I've added a previously posted photo of the beautiful white flower in a comment box below, for anyone not familiar with this plant. "All parts of the plant are poisonous. However, accidental poisoning is not likely since the berries are extremely bitter. The berries are the most toxic part of the plant. A healthy adult will experience poisoning from as few as six berries. Ingestion of the berries causes nausea, dizziness, increased pulse and severe gastrointestinal discomfort. The toxins can also have an immediate sedative effect on the cardiac muscle tissue possibly leading to cardiac arrest if introduced into the bloodstream. As few as two berries may be fatal to a child. All parts of the plant contain an irritant oil that is most concentrated within the roots and berries." From Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actaea_rubra

This is one of my favourite native wildflowers - White Camas. When I downloaded my photos from yesterday's day of botanizing at Sundre Natural Area (north west of Calgary) to my computer last night, and cropped this zoomed-in photo, I discovered there was a tiny spider hiding in there along with the gorgeous beetle. I have a better shot of the latter, showing its patterns, which I will eventually post. Don't you just love these rings of tiny green hearts? : ) "White camas (Zygadenus elegans) is a member of the lily family, and is commonly found in open areas and lightly wooded montane regions. Narrow, pale silver-green leaves at the base compliment the long, showy floral spike, which bears several individual creamy green six-petaled flowers. The bulb of this plant is poisonous, but not so much so as that of its relative, the death camas. Camas blooms from July through August." From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DwWhitecamus.jpg