Brilliant Jumping Spider Phidippus clarus

Watch this brilliant hunter execute one of the spider world's most dramatic hunting techniques: it waits upside down near the top of plants, then launches itself downward in a lightning-quick jump—giving prey no escape route. Found in old fields throughout eastern North America, this jumping spider is a precision ambush predator. Jumping spiders account for about 10% of all spider species globally, and this one is a star performer. With excellent color vision and forward-facing eyes that rival vertebrate intelligence, this tiny hunter sees and thinks more like a mammal predator than you'd expect from something smaller than a grain of rice.