This is one of the most beautiful spiders I’ve ever seen (species Ctenus captiosus). I found it in the leaf litter next to a dead tree stump, and when I got close, it scurried up the stump and then stayed still, allowing me to take several pictures.
Although it looks like a wolf spider, the eye configuration is not the same. Wolf spiders have a row of four small eyes on the bottom, two large eyes in the middle, and then two medium on top. This one has two eyes on the bottom, then a row of four, and then two.
There doesn’t seem to be very much information available on this particular species, which is unfortunate, because it’s lovely. There are a few pictures at BugGuide. I created an account there and submitted these pictures, hoping to contribute to the data on these creatures.
Based on the species PDF linked above, I suspect this is a male, because it has a slender abdomen.
