New Spiders!

I’ve got a lot of new spiders to share. The first batch came from The Spider Room. I already told you about the four unrelated Phidippus morpheus slings, but I also got two Phidippus aureus (Golden Jumping Spider). They look pretty much like any other Phidippus at this age.

Next up is Phidippus ardens (Desert red jumping spider). It’s supposed to be i5-7. Just realized this terrible picture is all I have.

Next is Phidippus texanus, the Texas jumping spider. Top row is when I got it, bottom is right after molting. Supposed to be instar 4-6.

Here’s the real treat now: two Ometepe jumping spiders (Phidippus sp. Ometepe). They come from an island in Nicaragua. Hoping I got one of each sex. They’re super pretty with an iridescent sheen! Pictures don’t do it justice. One has already molting and the other is preparing to molt.

Jordan, the friend who used to breed bold jumpers, caught a bunch of subadult Phidippus johnsoni over the weekend and gave me a couple. She thought most of them were adult females, but then they started molting. The left is how they started; the right is what they molted into. These were two of the “females” she kept. Both turned out to be males.

This is one that she gave me, which I named Socks. If you look close, “she” had little yellow socks on the feet.

Well, “she” molted today, into this:

I have another one from Jordan. It’s smaller than the rest so who knows when it will molt or what sex it will be. I named it “Lashes” cause of the hair up top.

This next spider I’ve had for awhile. It’s also supposed to be a Johnson’s, but the coloration is black and yellow!

Last but certainly not least, I found this tiny jumper on the fence separating my chickens from the rest of the yard. I wasn’t even sure it was a jumper, considering her badonkadonk. She looked plain brown until I threw her under the scope, then her golden flecks really shined! Jordan tells me it’s probably a Buttonhook Leafbeetle Jumping Spider (Sassacus vitis). I’ve named her Bootylicious.