Good morning!

I was cutting basil in the garden the other morning and had not brought a basket  with me, so I carried the armload of fragrant herbs into the kitchen clutched to my chest so as not to drop any.  I then washed it in the sink.  Much to my surprise, when the water drained there was a small black spider sitting in the bottom of the sink, looking rather put out.   I know it as a fuzzy jumping spider. It’s official name is Phidippus audax.  They are common around here and I love their colorful,  iridescent  chelicerae (mouth parts), which are a lovely teal green on this young spider.  I read that the marking may be orange tinted in juveniles (wiki). The ones I usually see have white markings.

I brought him to the garden and he clung to the flower petal for a few seconds.  You can see the orange tinted spots.

It didn’t take long to recover.  It turned to face me, then quickly disappeared under the flowers.  I wish I had been quicker with the camera and he less traumatized.  I love the color of the chelicerae in the photo below.  

There are some wonderful macro photos online that are more clear than mine if you want to see more of this cute spider close up.