Jumping Spiders...again...

Simon Sansom · 07-23-04, 02:52 PM

Hi Folks,

Here's a crappy pic of a fairly good-sized "Daring Jumping Spider", <html><i>Phidippus audax </i></html> to be precise, which I collected a week ago...
I assumed by the size of her massive abdomen that she was "gravid", so I've been keeping her in deli cup with a piece of paper towel, and feeding her house-flies etc.
The other day she built a weird web on the side of the container, and it LOOKS as though there's a cluster of golden eggs in there, but I'm not sure. I don't want to disturb her too much.

She still feeds, though. Here she has just taken a green-bottle fly...

These spiders are VERY different from "T's" - they are almost totally visual in the way they interact with their surroundings. For an arthropod, their eyesight is exceptional, having actual lenses like higher animals, instead of the compound eyes of insects. They also have binocular vision.
To watch this one stalk a fly is absolutely rivetting! Just like a jungle cat, she creeps up, belly low to the substate, taking advantage of any surface irregularites to conceal herself from her prey - then she leaps onto the prey, hard enough to be heard from several feet away!
It's really something to see.
Fascinating stuff.

Thanks for looking.

Simon R. Sansom

Janiman · 07-23-04, 03:17 PM

Very cool. The picture is a bit fuzzy, so I'm wondering what the colouration is like on her. I once collected a beautiful little jumping spider that was all velvety black (short hair) with several bright red triangles on her abdomen. I've always meant to look it up but never have. Have you ever seen one like that?

Simon Sansom · 07-23-04, 04:06 PM

Hi Janiman,

Yes, she is either black, or very dark brown, with orangey markings on her "back". It's likely the very same type.
The males have metallic blue-green chelicerae. Very neat.

I also have a "Flat Grey Bark Jumper", <html><i>Platycryptus undatus </i></html>.

Cheers!

Simon R. Sansom