# P. audax, male or female?



## Protectyaaaneck (Mar 29, 2011)

So I was at work today ripping aluminum siding off a house in about 35 degree weather when I happened to stumble upon this little guy.  He was sitting directly on the plywood beneath the siding and was pretty slow at first which made the capture easy, but my question for all of you jumper pros is, what sex is it?  And I'm right in my assumption that it's an audax, correct?


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## TheTyro (Mar 29, 2011)

It's kind of on the small/immature (just guessing based on it's size in relation to everything else in the photos) side, but based on my experience with the jumpers...I'd say it's female. I only say that because the females tend to have more obvious stalks of setae on the top of the carapace (like little horns) where as my males had subtle ones. The females also had more orange on the foremost legs in that stocking/stripes style. But considering it might have some more molting to do, it's just a guess. 

Also, the clypeus fringe has some white, and I usually find that most prominently in females.

Nice find, I can't wait to look for Phiddipus in my state during the summer!


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## grayhound (Mar 30, 2011)

Definately Audax.  I'm not positive, but it looks male to me.  I could be wrong!  Mine seems to be darker, bigger and bulkier..... like females are supposed to be.

Here is a picture of mine.  I'm pretty sure its female based on a Discovery channel or something similar video i found on jumpers.  "She" is pretty big for a jumper, and pretty bulky.  Very Dark black with bright Green fangs.  I caught it last August or so in my kitchen.


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## Fyreflye (Mar 31, 2011)

I'm with Tyro on this one, i don't think it's _quite_ a mature adult yet.  But it does look like a P. audax, and in fact looks very much like one i found in my house a few years ago, which got me into the hobby.    It was the same size and coloring, and after a molt turned into a male with white markings instead of orange.  Give this little one some time to mature and let's see what it does.


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## Protectyaaaneck (Apr 8, 2011)

This guy has been full of energy so I figured I'd take him out for some photos.  He's already taken down two crickets and is starting to fill out nicely.


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## Fyreflye (Apr 8, 2011)

Jumpers are by far my favorite true spider.  Which is hard for the common non-bug-enthusiast to understand, as they generally see jumpers as one of the more terrifying types. 

Your little one seems to be enjoying it's new home.  It sure has filled out, and is looking very healthy.


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## snakecollector (Apr 9, 2011)

*In my experience....*

I have been collecting jumping spiders for years and in my experience
the males have green or blue chelicerae while female have a burgandy 
or purple color. Also males first two legs are chunkier as they use these 
to do their breeding display. 

This has been my experience with the Florida Phidippus species.


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## SFEAR (May 14, 2011)

you have a female for sure


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## Silberrücken (May 14, 2011)

snakecollector said:


> I have been collecting jumping spiders for years and in my experience
> the males have green or blue chelicerae while female have a burgandy
> or purple color. Also males first two legs are chunkier as they use these
> to do their breeding display.
> ...


Pics to show what snakecollector is talking about:

MM01-01

View attachment 90379


MM01-02

View attachment 90380


MM01-03

View attachment 90381


MM01-04

View attachment 90382


MM02-01 (sorry for pic quality)

View attachment 90383



Pics of female to follow....

S.


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## Silberrücken (May 14, 2011)

*And here are...*

pics of a young female. These are Phidippus regius, not audax, but the coloring of their chelicerae is a very good ID tool.

JF01 -01

View attachment 90384


JF-01-02

View attachment 90385


JF-01-03

View attachment 90386


Hope this helps....  

S.


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## Aschamne (May 15, 2011)

I had a female P. audax a few years ago that had green chelicerae, so color of the chelicerae has nothing to do with the sex.  BTW, I am 100% positive mine was a female, unless males make egg sacks.  

Art


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## Silberrücken (May 15, 2011)

Aschamne said:


> I had a female P. audax a few years ago that had green chelicerae, so color of the chelicerae has nothing to do with the sex.  BTW, I am 100% positive mine was a female, unless males make egg sacks.
> 
> Art


You sure it was an P. audax? 

S.


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## ZergFront (May 15, 2011)

That's not just a P.regius but a P.regius RCF. I have a female, too. I'll be looking for a MM after I get back from vacation.


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## super-pede (May 15, 2011)

beautiful spider.

wish there were more of them out here in oregon:drool::drool::drool:


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## GartenSpinnen (May 15, 2011)

Is there really a niche for these? I see a variety of jumpers around these areas. Last year I found one that was entirely white with black spots, and I regularly find large P. audax. Maybe I should start catching them and listing them when I find them lol

Everyone I know hates jumpers because they seem to have a curiosity towards people and will not hesitate to come 'check you out'. I will have to post some pics of what I find out here and see what they are. I know some are P. audax but the others I am unsure of, we have quite the variety of jumpers in MI.

Was not aware that there was a colour differentiation between female and male chelicerae?


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## Aschamne (May 15, 2011)

Silberrücken said:


> You sure it was an P. audax?
> 
> S.


About 99% sure, since the specimen was close to 3/4" long and caught in northern Illinois.  As far as I know they are the only black with white markings jumping spider found here.  And most of the other jumpers in this area are fairly small about 3/8" long.  Although, I could be wrong as I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to true spiders. 

Art


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## dr.salticid (May 16, 2011)

*Phidippus audax and Phidippus regius*

Just a few comments to clarify a couple of things.  Phidippus audax can be identified by the eight matte black patches on the top of the abdomen, and also because they are usually black and white as adults.  There are iridescent scales between the spots and matte black spots, especially behind the central triangular spot (which is the fused second pair of dorsal spots).  On well marked individuals, there is a small pair of round spots in front of the triangle, and 2 pair of linear transverse spots behind the triangle.  Juveniles often have orange spots instead of white spots on the abdomen.  There are some populations, especially in the south, that retain the orange color as adults, which may also be red or yellow in this case.  The second photo from the top of Grayhound's set of photos shows the matte black spots and iridescence quite well.  Protectyaaaneck's photos are probably of a subadult female, due to the orange spot color, the northern locality, and the slender palps.  The chelicerae of both sexes are usually green, but occasionally I have seen some that were partially blue or gold.  These may have corresponded to males and females, respectively, but I don't recall.

For Phidippus regius, typically the matte black patches and iridescent scales on the dorsum of the abdomen are missing, or if something is present in the juveniles, it's less developed than in P. audax.  However, males are always black and white, and can be confused with P. audax.  If you know how to examine the palps, you can tell them apart this way, but they generally are dead when this method is used.  The easiest way to tell is that male P. regius lack the iridescent scales, and there are only 2 pair of dorsal abdominal spots, which are the "triangle" (which is usually 2 curved bars adjacent to each other) and a pair of oval spots behind that.  The chelicerae of males is usually green, but can also be partly blue and occasionally even violet.  The chelicerae of females is either green or magenta (which is more common) [females of P. otiosus can be similar, but these tend to have some gold or copper color included as well].  Females vary in color quite a bit, although more "northern" i.e., southeast U.S., females are usually black with white, tan or orange markings (often on the top of the carapace as well as on the abdomen), whereas as you get into peninsular Florida, you get a variety of main body colors, including gray, tan, brown, and orange (not red!).  The so-called RCF (red color form) is a misnomer, because they are ORANGE!  If you have doubts, compare to a real red Phidippus like P. apacheanus, P. cardinalis or P. whitmani.


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## Silberrücken (May 16, 2011)

Pic of one of my females... the colors you see on her chelicerae are always present. Yellow, green, and purple.

S.


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## dr.salticid (May 17, 2011)

Very nice.  And illustrative of the variability in Phidippus.  Color is not a particularly useful method of identifying Phidippus, particularly for chelicerae, as minute differences in the physical structure will affect the light wavelengths that we see.  Three colors is not commonly noticed, but I've seen males of P. regius that were green-blue-violet from top to bottom.  Pattern (on the abdomen) is a little more reliable, but can be variable as well, and sometimes the pattern exists, but is overlaid with scales of a different color, so you can't see it.  This is particularly noticeable in species with males that are mostly red or at least have red abdomens.  This doesn't mean there aren't individual instances where color and pattern aren't useful for species identification, it just means that you have to be careful not to make assumptions if something doesn't match the norm.


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