Accidental Jumping Spider Slings

[SUT]

So a couple weeks ago I got what I assumed was a male Phidippus regius. Set it up in a not-slingproof enclosure and now after taking a week vacation I return to a ton of baby jumping spiders. It seems like they are still in their first molt and still in the web. I wasn't expecting to take care of a bunch of spiderlings but I plan on it. Going to order some plastic vials and fruitflies tonight. Is there anything else I need to be prepared for? Also how long do I have before the slings start escaping?

Also Everything I have read so far tells me that my spider is a male, can anyone explain how I ended up with spiderlings?

 

[Kasey Hodges]

What is the difference between male and female I can’t tell??

 

[Ungoliant]

Also Everything I have read so far tells me that my spider is a male, can anyone explain how I ended up with spiderlings?

It wasn't male.

 

[Aline]

Hi! I just saw your thread and unfortunately can't answer you, but I'd love to know the answers myself. How long did it take the babies to start dispersing ? Did you separate them? I hope all is going well!

 

[SteveIDDQD]

From what little I know, the colour isn't a good indicator as males are always black and white, but females can be any colour, including black and white. Females apparently have the "crown" of vertical hairs on the top of their head behind the eyes, and males have much longer front legs (although that would be hard to tell unless you have the two near each other).

 

[jl86]

It was pretty clearly a female hehe. I’m not an expert with regius but very familiar with Audax. The overall body shape is a good indicator of gender, as females often have an abdomen larger than the cephalothorax and males are the opposite (smaller abdomen). Males also have larger palps with larger knobby ends (the females’ are slender). I can tell from the palps in your photo that this is a female.