Fun with a Jumper

Courtney Reece (of WOLF School fame) found this jumping spider in her kitchen and took a few shots of it before moving it to her front yard flowers.  I tentatively identified it as a a Phidippus sp. before getting an answer from Bugguide.  This is Maevia inclemens commonly called a dimorphic jumper (DMJ).

We discussed the Salticidae family of jumping spiders in this blog a few years ago.  They share the same flat face with two large eyes facing forward, specialized for prey identification and judging distance and are remarkably accurate in landing at up to 50 body lengths away.  Three more small pairs of eyes are on to of the head, able to detect movement and danger.  This National Geographic video demonstrates it in action. 

These spiders are fastidious about their appearance.  The article on DMJ in Wikipedia details their grooming technique.  "They moisten their fangs, draw the legs one at a time through the fangs, and "comb" the legs with the fangs and palps. The first and fourth pairs of legs are then used to groom other parts of the body, and the only place they appear not to reach is the dorsal surface of the carapace."  See this grooming video.

Gray morph

Dark morph

Courtney's spider is a female.  The DMJ get the title of dimorphic jumper from the two forms of males, one a dark morph or color and the other gray as seen above from Wikipedia.  The two morphs even have distinctive mating dances and approaches and mating techniques, each of which pays off with lots of offspring although it occasionally ends poorly for the successful male.

Meanwhile, Courtney's little lady is out in her front yard, looking for love.  She isn't particular about the guy's morph as long as he has the right moves.

Morph photos from Wikipedia, all others by Courtney Reece.