Hello, I owned a handsome male Johnson Jumping Spider. I’ve had him since he was too young to sex. I really came to adore the thing. But sadly today I came home to find him hanging dead in his enclosure. Nothing had seemed out of place and he had just ate a moose fly the other day. upon further inspection I saw mites crawling around his mouth. I don’t know were they came from or if they are the cause of his death.
Spider mysteriously died
- Thread starter Camry
- Start date
WeightedAbyss75
Arachnoangel
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2014
- Messages
- 921
They could be, and I may not be the best person to answer this. However, this thread seems to answer all relevant questions on them:
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/all-you-need-to-know-about-mites.309211/#post-2809837
To summarize, it seems these mites (unless excessive in numbers) are harmless scavengers that may stress out a spider if too many attach. Based on the look of these mites, they seem to be grain mites and not parasitic mites. To be honest, they probably came to eat him after he died. If you could get a better shot of his pedipalps (the small “legs” near his mouth) I might be able to tell if it’s mature. Male true spiders die much faster than females (at least in tarantulas). If it was mature, then it may have just run out of time
Sorry for the loss of your jumping spider, but I don’t think the mites were the issue here
http://arachnoboards.com/threads/all-you-need-to-know-about-mites.309211/#post-2809837
To summarize, it seems these mites (unless excessive in numbers) are harmless scavengers that may stress out a spider if too many attach. Based on the look of these mites, they seem to be grain mites and not parasitic mites. To be honest, they probably came to eat him after he died. If you could get a better shot of his pedipalps (the small “legs” near his mouth) I might be able to tell if it’s mature. Male true spiders die much faster than females (at least in tarantulas). If it was mature, then it may have just run out of time
Sorry for the loss of your jumping spider, but I don’t think the mites were the issue here