Eight-legged freaks of California and beyond

Here's the bold jumping spider in action, © by Peter J. Bryant.

One thing I didn't see much of in the Bay Area that I do since I relocated to the Central Valley is lots of interesting-looking spiders.

At the doorway of my house in Merced is a frisky little fellow of genus and species Phidippus audax (family Salticidae), a.k.a. the bold jumper or bold jumping spider.

He's a furry, black and white arachnid that I saw on closer inspection has two large, matte metallic, jade-colored spots on his face called chelicerae, actually part of his fangs.

The critter, about the size of a dime, is described as common to North America, but this was the first one I've ever seen.

As I approached him and tried to steer him toward me with my baseball cap for a better look, he reared up on his hind legs to ward off the rude observer with his airborne front legs.

A fine image of this pose and other close-up shots of the bold jumper are on a site hosted by UC Irvine.

I found an archived chat on Phidippus audax by members of iVillage GardenWeb with some helpful tidbits and bytes (or should I say bites?). As Bob B. wrote:

There are many species of jumping spiders, and they are quite common. They are not all black and white. They are quite harmless and are fun to watch especially when you draw close to them and they back up, turn their head and look you over with their eight eyes. They are very small, a quarter of an inch or so. If they were the size of a tarantula they would indeed be fearsome creatures.

They do have a bit of venom, apparently, but the bold jumper is little threat to most people. An article by Arthur Huntley titled Jumping to Unfortunate Conclusions says this about the creepy-crawly's diet:

Jumping spiders are carnivores and predators. They eat insects and other spiders. These spiders do not spin webs but make little silken shelters under leaves or bark.

I'm going to assume my friendly neighborhood spider is clearing away plenty of gnats and other bugs at our home's entrada, earning his keep and my goodwill. Until he jumps on me and bites me, I guess.

At least I'm bigger 'n him, unlike some spiders:

Visit my personal blog, Decoherence levee, for more biting commentary and other writing with some teeth to it.