P. audax genetics?

[Pssh]

I have a normal female and a male that looks like this:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/153039/bgimage

and this:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/147921/bgimage

put together.


Any insight as to what the offspring might turn out as? Should I hold out for a female that is more like him?

 

[Malhavoc's]

Im almost willing to guess, those arnt actualy the same species.. I think I recall there being alot of confusion over that spp and its cousins.. could be wrong.

---------- Post added at 01:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:57 PM ----------

. 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.
.

ah found it.

 

[Pssh]

They look like audax to me. According to a key I used, they are the same species.

 

[xhexdx]

I hope the key you used didn't base species on color...

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.

What exactly is a 'normal' female?

 

[Pssh]

Just plain old white spots on black female is what I meant.

No, it did not base it on color. It was mainly on the different numbers of spots on the abdomen. And I do not mean the little white/orange spots.