Jumping Spider with Green Chelicerae

[bness2]

One of my students brought me a wonderful jumping spider the other day. It's about 1/2" or a little more in size and he has the most striking "fluroescent" green chelicerae. His body is dark gray with two stripes down the top of his abdomen and one white strip on the bottom.

I believe this guy is a member of the genus Phidippus, based on the green chelicerae. Does anyone know of any other genera with this characteristic? If it is a Phidippus species, does anyone have a guess as to what species or where I might look to find out?

He was caught indoors in the Napa Valley (just north of San Francsico) and he is quite a climber.

Bryan

[ArachnoJoost]

see: http://www.bighairyspiders.com/pic_neutrino.shtml
this is Phidippus audax. Green chelicerae, maybe looks like yours

[bness2]

Phidippus audax does lok similar, but it isn't quite a match, as far as I can tell. I have seen a few pictures of this species on other sites. The one that looks the closest to mine is at http://www.troyb.com/photo/gallery/042-18-DaringJumpingSpider.htm. The ones at http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Phidippus_audax&contgroup=Phidippus are also close. I think these are closen enough, but looking at mine, it appears that there is some geographic variation, or mine is a closely related species.

I just looked in its cage and it just caught a cricket.

Bryan

[Alex S.]

I catch the same species all the time and yes they are P. audax. Can be very common in Northern CA. Awesome species!

Alex S.

[Arachniphile]

Jumpers are really fun spiders to watch too... I love the way they stalk and pounce thier prey... almost comical at times....
Thier eyesight is uncanny too. I walked up and looked in at the first jumper I had (P. audax coincidently), he turned and LOOKED right at me!!! Creeped me out... he would just turn his head and point those beady little eyes right into mine... lol If a Huntsman did that... I'd scream for sure...



*shiver*

[bness2]

When I first got mine, just a few days ago, he was hyper-alert and would look me in the eye too. By today he seems to have acclimated a bit and often even ignores me when I get near. He's built himself two nice nests in two corners of the cage.

I put a moth in yesterday, and today he munched it. Looks pretty impressive to see a moth with a wingspan a few times greater than the spider in his mouth.

Bryan

[ArachnoJoost]

How big do those jumpers get? We have some in Holland, but the largest (with beautiful zebra-stripes) only gets to about 1/5". If you can see the spiders looking at you (cool!) they must be bigger than that.

[bness2]

Mine's 16 mm, which is maximum size for females. the males are a few mm smaller on average, so maybe that means I have a female. Just big enough to look in the face.

Bryan

[Wade]

Our biggest jumpers are close to an inch in legspan. P. audax is about 3/4".

They do indeed look right at you! They actually seem to recognize you as a creature and not just as some vast object the way most arthropods probably do.

They are considered to be the most advanced of all spiders.

Wade

[Alex S.]

Jumpers are definetely a very advanced family of spiders, among the most successful as well. They are incredible predators, able to take down prey over twice their size. Some tropical salticids get quite large, over 1" in body length.

Alex S.

[Cowshark]

Not to mention the cutest. With those huge two eyes in the front and the small body, they're like anime spiders. They're tied with tarantulas as my fave spideys. I've read that they can even watch TV like we do. It appears as actual images, not just pixels. Too cool. One day at work, this tiny jumping spider (Phiddippius sp, I think) hopped on my computer desk. I watched him hop about, all cute, and then when I turned my head, he was gone. Darn adorable beasties.

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by Cowshark
Not to mention the cutest. With those huge two eyes in the front and the small body, they're like anime spiders. They're tied with tarantulas as my fave spideys. In a conceptual sense, I'd say they are my favorite spiders - just not as good as "pets" as tarantulas. I marvel every time I get to see one, usually insisting on playing with it (it's from jumpers that I learned as a kid that spiders don't usually bite).

[bness2]

In being one of the most advance spiders, I wonder if that extends to some kind of intelligence. Just in the several days I've kept my spider, she seems to have gotten accustomed to my presence and doesn't start racing around the cage. Today I looked through my hand lens at her face, and it looks intelligent.

With that in mind, has anyone had enough experience with these that they have become more tame? I would like to take her out for a photo session, but I fear that I won't be able to get any pictures and I will lose her as well.

Bryan

[Wade]

Once while having lunch at my parents house, a large juper (probably P. audax) was seen on one of the windows near the table. My mother wanted me to remove the spider. I said "are you sure?" and got up and shooed a fly from annother window in the direction of the spider. The fly landed about 5" from the spider, and BAM! the spider was on it instantly. Everone at the table gasped, and since flies are a constant problem there, the spider became an honored guest, not to mention dinner entertainment!

On the issue of intelligence, I saw a talk on an Austarlian species of jumper that specialized in preying on other species of spiders. It had a staggering array of techniques to do this. It was very cryptically colored (looked like a bit of lichen). One thing it would do was to approach the outer perimeter of a web or burrow and immitate the drumming of a male of the species it was hunting. The female, if fooled, would approach and be eaten. If she wasn't fooled, the jumper would try a different drumming pattern, until it found the right one! To test the versitility of this spider, researches set up experiments where the jumper was introduced to various North American spiders (with different courtship behaviors it had never encountered) to see what it would do. First it tried all it's usual drummings that worked on the various Australian spiders, but when they failed, it started making up new ones, until it got one to work! This drumming trick was just one of several tatics employed by this spider. Itelligence? Well, if any spider deserves the title, it's these guys.

Wade

[Alex S.]

The genus of jumper that specializes in hunting other spiders is known as Portia, primarily the species Portia fimbriata, definetely awesome genus. Just incredible, preying on pretty much any other type of spider.

Alex S.

[bness2]

These Portias sound neat and would suggest a certain degree of intelligence. How large are they, does anyone know?

Bryan

[Alex S.]

Portia commonly get around 1 cm. in body length.

Alex S.

[motorteipidpa]

whats the life span of these little guys?ive been keeping a little bold jumper i found for a few months now,and im wondering wen its gonna be his time to go.do the adults die off during winter?if so,if kept in my house in my bug closet with the my other inverts,is there a possibilility it will stay alive throughout winter?
Tom

[Alex S.]

In my experience, jumper adults usually dont live any longer than 5 to 6 months, but that is all the time they really need to fill their niche, as they are such awesome predators.

Alex S.

[Big Mike]

Portia is definitely the worlds most inteligent spider. I found a great 12 page article in National Geographic Magazine about portia. There are 18 full color close-up pictures and three of them are full page! They include pic's of the Portia luring the male away from a female about 10 times bigger than the Portia. One false move and Portia is a goner. This spider deserves to have its place in the Arachnid hall of fame. This issue of NGM is usualy redily available on Ebay for a couple of bucks. It is the November 1996 issue with a picture of Planet Earth from the Space Shuttle. Definitely a must for anyone interested in Jumping Spiders, or spider inteligence.

Mike

[Big Mike]

Speaking of Jumping Spiders. I have found several large jumpers in here in Central California that look like P. Audax except they have red or orange markings on the abdomen. They are about 3/4 in. with green chelicerae. After looking at the pictures posted in this thread (one with white markings, one with yellow) I am wondering if my jumpers are just a color variant of this species? I would appreciate any info or ideas you may have.

Mike

[Alex S.]

Yeah, I have also seen several specimens with different color variations and most likely they are morphs.

Alex S.

[atavuss]

Originally posted by Big Mike
Speaking of Jumping Spiders. I have found several large jumpers in here in Central California that look like P. Audax except they have red or orange markings on the abdomen. They are about 3/4 in. with green chelicerae. After looking at the pictures posted in this thread (one with white markings, one with yellow) I am wondering if my jumpers are just a color variant of this species? I would appreciate any info or ideas you may have.

Mike

central california! a neighbor! I live in Stockton.
Ed

[Wade]

Originally posted by Big Mike
It is the November 1996 issue with a picture of Planet Earth from the Space Shuttle. Definitely a must for anyone interested in Jumping Spiders, or spider inteligence.

Mike

Mike-

Thanks for that, I'll have to track it down. Do you remember who wrote the article? I bet it was Mark Moffett, he's a photographer for National Geographic and he was the one that gave the talk I saw!

Alex-

Thanks for coming up with the name! Portia is definately the one I was talking about.

Wade

[Big Mike]

The article was written by Robert R. Jackson. He is associate professor of zoology at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. All of the photographs were taken by Mark W. Moffet. You must get your hands on this issue!

Mike

[Alex S.]

No problem Wade, hope you get your hands on that article. They are just incredible spiders!!

Alex S.

[Big Mike]

Here you go! Not one, but two issues currently being auctioned on Ebay. Follow the links below for more info!!!


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1583187844

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1580979912

[Wade]

Thanks again, Mike

Does it have the picture of Portia stalking annother species of jumper? Moffet showed this one increadible slide of the prey spider actualy trying to hide under the shade cast by the looming Portia!

Wade

[Big Mike]

The article is primarily all about Portia hunting and killing other spiders. There are about 10 pictures of Portia getting ready to attack, as well as sequences of attacks. Im not quite sure about the exact picture you are speaking of though. Did you actually see this slide show in person? I would have asked a million questions afterward! I hope you are able to win one of those issues on ebay.

Mike

[Wade]

Moffet was the keynote speaker at the 2000 Sonoran Arthropod Studies Institute Invertebrates In Captivity Conference, where he presented the talk. He's an absolutly amazing photographer. He described Portia's method for stalking other jumpers. It follows them and stays directly behind the spider, in the "blind spot". If the jumper turns around, Portia freezes in place. Since Portia looks like a clump of lichen, the intended prey fails to recognize it as a threat, and continues on it's way. Portia continues to creep and freeze until it is virtually on top of the other spider. The photo showed Portia rearing up, but frozen in place, while it's intended victim attempts to hide under it!

The stuff about Portia was just part of his talk, he touched on and showed slides of a wide array of facinating inverts. He also took the pictures for Richard Coniff's article on tarantulas from the September 1996 issue of National Geographic.

Wade

[Big Mike]

I am thinking about going to SASI next year. How was the conference as a whole? Were you able to do much colecting? If so, what did you find? Were there very many vendors? Give me some examples if possible. I want to go, but only if it is worth the trip.

Thanks!!!

Mike

[Wade]

The SASI conference is awsome. A big part of that is the collecting. I don't know where you live, but I'm on the east coast, so the collecting in southern Arizona is mind blowing for me. Participants are issued a collecting permit for the Coronodo National Forest, which covers most of the wild areas in southern AZ.

I've been the past 4 years, but may not be able to attend next year :( . Every year, I can count on collecting tarantulas (Mostly A. chalcodes) scorpions (V. spinigerus, C. exilcauda,and a few others. Hadrurus is in the area, but I've never found any myself) Solifugids, vinegaroons (if you know where to go) Centipedes (lots of S. polymorpha and the occasional S. heros), lots of fantastic insects such as ox beetles, giant water bugs, sunburst diving beetles...it goes on and on. It's held during Monsoon season, when arthropod activity is at it highest.

Then there's the conference itself, top notch paper sessions plus workshops and exciting field collecting trips. Most of it is aimed at the professional, either entomologists or museum and zoo personel as well as school teachers. It takes place at a very nice resort hotel!

There's usually one or two vendors selling live inverts, this past year it was Hitari Invertebrates and Wee Beasties.

The only downside is that it's a bit pricey if you're paying your own way (most atendees work for zoos or museums and are sent there on the company dime). Although the hotel gives a discount for the conference, it's still a little steep, and it's probably at least a good 35 miles from the nearest alternative. This is the reason that I probably won't be going this year.

All in all, I'd say it's well worth it, especially if you've never collected in the Sonoran. It's truly awsome!

Wade

[Big Mike]

I am really looking forward to going. I tried to get prices off of thier website, but my PDF reader isnt working. Can you fill me in on the fees?

Thanks!

Mike

[Wade]

It's something like $180 (probably not exact) for registration, with extra fees for field trips and workshops. They do give a great discount if you present a paper or workshop. The basic registration includes at least 2 really good meals, an icebreaker cookout and a banquet at the end.

If you can swing it, you should go. It's a great time.

There's also the ATS conference, which is much, much, much cheaper. There's also more live animals offered for sale there as well.

Wade

[Tarantula Lover]

that is a piddipus audax, the DARING JUMPING SPIDER!

James

P.S- Good Luck

[Raveness]

Those are the cutest freakin spiders! I love em' ;)