How to sex jumping spiders?

[mandipants]

I just found another Phidippus johnsoni. I have a mature male at home, so it would be great if this was a female. It's immature, (gray-brown w/ orange back) So the "black stripe, no black stripe" is not a frame of referance. Any ideas on sexing this little beast?

[saltyscissors]

the male performs a complex dance to the female, but if the female doesnt like it, she may eat/attack the male
if youve got a jumping spider like a zebra spider, telling a male from a female is very easy, as the males have enlarged chelicerae

[mandipants]

You do have a point with the introduction thing. They are common enough that I could introduce them, and either end up with 1 fatty, or an eggsac, without feeling too much guilt about one of them meeting their demise. Either way I have to wait until the new one molts. Hopefully the MM will last until this one molts. Any idea on how long a MM Phidippus lasts? He had his ultimate molt just a couple weeks ago.

[mandipants]

Just thought of something....

Jumping spiders have awesome vision! The first step will be to have them in seperate containers that they can see eachother through, with enough ventilation that they can pick up eachother's "scent" and see how they act. Based on that, (and if this one molts soon) I'll decide what to do.

[TheTyro]

I was curious about watching the male display at the female a few times, so i'd pick up the male and have him in my hand, and show him to the female while she sat inside her cage. When he registered her on the other side of the container, he'd do his little dance and she'd just stare. I tried breeding them, but apparently his dance was not good enough. :p On a paper plate, she'd literally walk around him ( to the underside of the plate) to get around him. It was so sad. I felt bad for him.

I'm still trying to figure out what my P. audax is, i'm really sure its a female, based on the one I had before.

Maybe you could take a picture of it, and someone with more expertise here on the boards could help you out.

[ZergFront]

You can see where the female lays her eggs from on a mature female(see the little hole just behind the pedicel?). Here's an old one of Bitsy.

http://i1013.photobucket.com/albums/af255/ZergFront/5-11-09025.jpg