May 21st, 2007
mystery spider
Insect and spider activity has been picking up steadily over the past few days. Each walk in the woods and fields is marked with at least one or two exciting moments. On Saturday afternoon, while taking a break from an outdoor garden project we’re working on (more about that later this week), I found this large and very beautiful jumping spider on a poplar sapling in the little apple orchard next to the woods. Although you can’t really see this in either of the photos, the spider was carrying a small beetle.
I’ve seen female jumping spiders (Salticidae) very much like this around the farm before. They’re quite large compared to most other species, the body being at least 12mm long. The abdomen is covered with rusty brown hairs, and the cephalothorax is a frosty gray with a few tufts of long black hair on the top of the “head” (I use that term rather loosely when applying it to spiders!). The PLE (posterior lateral eyes) – eyes on side closest to the back of the cephalothorax – seem conspicuously large and are placed quite far back. The cepahlothorax is also quite rounded compared to many other jumping spiders (most tend to have a sort of square-shaped “head” and face).
I already knew that this was not one of the species that is being tracked by Spider WebWatch, but I do like to identify spiders whenever possible, as I like to keep records of my insects and spider sightings. Having looked through quite a few different spider guides, I decided to post a request for help with identification on the Nearctic Arachnologists’ Forum. Fairly soon, I received a reply from David Shorthouse, the forum administrator. He suggested that it might be a species of Phidippus, and perhaps it could be Phidippus princeps (see photo of female at the bottom of that page). There’s certainly a very close resemblance, especially the shape of the cephalothorax and placement of the eyes — I’d say it’s pretty much identical. So, that might well be the identity of these large, beautiful “mystery” jumping spiders found here at the farm.
