Rundstedt B. Rovillos
eyes
Jumping spiders have very good vision centered in their anterior median eyes (AME). Their eyes are able to create a focused image on the retina, which has up to four layers of receptor cells in it. Physiological experiments have shown that they may have up to four different kinds of receptor cells, with different absorption spectra, giving them the possibility of up to tetrachromatic color vision, with sensitivity extending into the ultra-violet range. It seems that all salticids, regardless of whether they have two, three or four kinds of color receptors, are highly sensitive to UV light. Some species (for example, Cosmophasis umbratica) are highly dimorphic in the UV spectrum, suggesting a role in sexual signaling. Color discrimination has been demonstrated in behavioral experiments.
The principal eyes have high resolution (11 min. visual angle), but the field of vision is narrow, from 2-5 degrees.
Because the retina is the darkest part of the eye and it moves around, one can sometimes look into the eye of a jumping spider and see it changing color. When it is darkest, you are looking into its retina and the spider is looking straight at you.
best viewed LARGE:
www.flickr.com/photos/rundstedt/3086946574/sizes/l/in/set...
eyes
Jumping spiders have very good vision centered in their anterior median eyes (AME). Their eyes are able to create a focused image on the retina, which has up to four layers of receptor cells in it. Physiological experiments have shown that they may have up to four different kinds of receptor cells, with different absorption spectra, giving them the possibility of up to tetrachromatic color vision, with sensitivity extending into the ultra-violet range. It seems that all salticids, regardless of whether they have two, three or four kinds of color receptors, are highly sensitive to UV light. Some species (for example, Cosmophasis umbratica) are highly dimorphic in the UV spectrum, suggesting a role in sexual signaling. Color discrimination has been demonstrated in behavioral experiments.
The principal eyes have high resolution (11 min. visual angle), but the field of vision is narrow, from 2-5 degrees.
Because the retina is the darkest part of the eye and it moves around, one can sometimes look into the eye of a jumping spider and see it changing color. When it is darkest, you are looking into its retina and the spider is looking straight at you.
best viewed LARGE:
www.flickr.com/photos/rundstedt/3086946574/sizes/l/in/set...