Male Phidippus regius-He's a MOM!!!

[Silberrücken]

Hi all! I have 2 pair of mated Phidippus regius. One pair show what I think is "normal" behavior-the female produced an eggsack, and guards it well from her mate. She only needs to show a threat pose, and he leaves her alone.

The 2nd pair-all was normal, with the female guarding the sack. Here's the strange part... :?

It was time to feed and change their water caps (They prefer the misting but I keep the caps in for humidity). I noticed the female in HIS nest, and the male was guarding the sack! At first I thought maybe he was feeding on the eggs, but that is not the case. He has actually taken over the role of Mama, and he is very good at it. :clap:

My question is: Has anyone seen or heard of this??? I have bred and raised P. regius for some time now, and this is the first time I have observed this. Is there anyone here who has seen this behavior? I don't have pics at the moment, because the sack is located in a hard-to-photograph location. I will try out some ideas of how to get some pics later.

What do you think? Do I have a rare MM P. regius????? All comments welcome! S.

 

[Silberrücken]

Anyone???? :?

 

[TheTyro]

Can't say I have heard of that happening, but keep an eye on it and see how things go. Are you sure he's guarding it and not just taking refuge there while she's out? Does he respond like the female? It's interesting, but I wouldn't put it past the male to just take the opportunity of crawling inside, maybe he doesn't realize it's got eggs inside. I imagine the mom won't be too pleased with him when she gets back.

 

[TomM]

Very interesting. After I bred my P. audax and the female laid a sac, she just devoured the male. Poor little guy. Anyways, would defintely like to hear how this turns out, if he's really guarding the egg sac or just "chillin" there.

 

[Silberrücken]

Update

Hi all! Sorry I am so late with more info. I had to attend to family matters 'cross country.

I finally got a few not-so-good pics, but they don't show him IN the eggsack. The pics just show him on the outside of it as he was checking out a fly. My friend who fed them as I was gone said the female did stay in the sack 1 day. The male was hunting, and when he was done, he made her leave the sack. :?

So far, he guards the sack zealously.... I am so curious as to what he will do when the slings come out!

I will try my darnedest to get pics of him in the sack, 'cause I want everyone to see it! (Seeing is believing, right???)

I really don't want to post these pics, because anyone can get pics of a male to sit on an eggsack... but I will update ASAP!!! S.