Spider guru Hank Guarisco is in town teaching me to identify spiders with a microscope. That means we’re often out looking for spiders to serve as guinea pigs. Last Friday we found this crazy-looking critter on some land I own in Dripping Springs:

She’s a female Phidippus mystaceus. I’m not aware of a common name. Many spiders of the genus Phidippus have those eye tufts. Cute, huh? Tell me if you still think she’s cute after seeing what she was up to when we found her:

She doesn’t just look crazy; she is crazy. This was at about 9pm, about two hours after dark. Jumping spiders are supposed to be day hunters, requiring light to see. They aren’t supposed to be hunting at night. Hank and I were wondering exactly when she caught the hornet and whether this naughty spider might have been up past her bed time. I’m used to seeing green lynxes and crab spiders with wasps and hornets, but I don’t recall ever seeing a jumper with one before.

Anyone know what kind of hornet this is?

I usually see adult P. mystaceus in Austin around this time of the year, though I don’t know anything about their biology. Here’s an old photo I took of a male of this species, though it didn’t turn out as well:

I have another photo of this male on my programs page.