Local jumping spiders

I have a member interested in buying some of my local jumping spiders (Phidippus audax), as there are plenty around here. I've been slowly collecting them until I have a batch to sell, and here are four that I caught today.

I'll have to see if I can get some better photos once they are settled into their habitats and the light is coming through the window during the day as it is a dark room at the moment. Only one of the spiders is black, and it is the largest, which is odd as that is mainly the color I see here. The other three are a brown to gray color, with one being a small juvenile.

Good news is though I recently acquired one of the surplus bedrooms to use as my bugroom. Strange though the first thing in there are the jumping spiders and not mantids. I'll have to get some photos of it once I get everything moved in and setup.

I've been reading up a bit on them as pets. Seems they can eat prey twice their size, and like flies, moths, crickets, etc - so no problem there. I still don't know how often to feed them though. I did read to mist them every 3-4 days. Also their habitat needs were simple enough so I just took some uninhabited mantid habitats and added pieces of bark and leaves in the bottom for them to have plenty of hiding places.

If anyone has any tips on them that would be great. Also amazingly now that I have the spiders my wife is ok with them, and even said I could keep them as pets myself.  As originally she was freaking out about all spiders, but seeing them in the containers said they looked cute lol.

I'm pretty sure the 3 gray ones are Platycryptus Undatus, very cool bark mimic jumpers. I found one last year and it was probably the coolest jumping spider I have ever seen! Are the Platycryptus Undatus  common near you?

I feed my P.audax about 3-4 flies per week.

Thanks for the ID, indeed if the bark jumpers are what I was finding it seems they are the most common (see below). Sounds good, I will feed mine ever other day and see how it works for them.

I also caught another one today, and looks just like the other three I got yesterday. I took some photos of it today in the yard with the sunlight, and of course they look much better. It took awhile though as it seemed to be constantly moving around. Here are a few of the better shots I got of it.

No problem  You're lucky to have these near you, they are very cool jumping spiders!

You snagged some nice photos of the little guy! I'd love a jumping spider, but I think I would have to order myself one online instead of collecting one here. I found what I think was a species of jumping spider the other day, but he managed to get away before I could get a closer look at him. 

Oh, man, I think I am slowly liking spiders more and more... I don't think my boyfriend will be happy about that though lol!!

All About Insects said:

No problem  You're lucky to have these near you, they are very cool jumping spiders!

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I have to admit it does make them harder to find, but the ones I caught lately were hiding out on my bright red shed so it was easier. So far the big black one (Phidippus audax?) is the most active running around in his habitat and always visible.

ashleenicole said:

You snagged some nice photos of the little guy! I'd love a jumping spider, but I think I would have to order myself one online instead of collecting one here. I found what I think was a species of jumping spider the other day, but he managed to get away before I could get a closer look at him. 

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Thanks, it's not bad for a point and shoot camera (but makes me miss my DSLR's).

If your interested in a few of the jumpers it wouldn't be much trouble to collect a few more for you as well. Shoot me a PM if your interested.

Mantidaddicted said:

Oh, man, I think I am slowly liking spiders more and more... I don't think my boyfriend will be happy about that though lol!!

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I was the same, and after collecting some for a MF member here I think I might keep a few myself. As long as he isn't one of those that think all spiders need to die by fire you might be able to win him over with the tiny size if nothing else. Best of luck.

If my husband gives me the ok for a few jumpers I'll shoot you a PM! I currently have 8 tarantulas, and I'm trying to convince him that a few more spiders in our home would be a good thing.  :lol:

ashleenicole said:

If my husband gives me the ok for a few jumpers I'll shoot you a PM! I currently have 8 tarantulas, and I'm trying to convince him that a few more spiders in our home would be a good thing.  :lol:

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Ah, okay I understand that, I just didn't realize you had your hands so full already. If you find any room for some just let me know.

Hopefully he'll yield soon! Right now we're in a one bedroom apartment and all the animals are in our bedroom, he's not super thrilled about sleeping in the same room as the tarantulas.  :lol:  He had the biggest case of arachnophobia I had ever seen when we met, but he has slowly come around to them and actually appreciates them now. We're hoping to move to a two bedroom, so the second bedroom can be turned into a study/critter room. Once we're there there are a few true spiders I have my eye on as well as a few more tarantulas. I'm going to do a bit more research on the jumpers, and then hopefully get back to you about acquiring one with his okay. 

Mantis containers are perfect for jumpers, because they are a lot healthier with good ventilation as far as my own personal experience. I feed my Hyllus sp every 10 days, prey size same as the body length of the spider, but they prefer 1/3 of their own body length much better and I think is the greatest size for them, except mealworms, moth, fly etc...  Also if they move around a lot it is a great sign !!!