100 Species #19: Phiddipus audax

[urbpan]

A small Phiddipus audax spider prowls our wooden step. I feel like I just wrote about this animal, because I did: It was #43 in my 50 more urban species project. What to say? Very commonly found around houses and windowsills and such, has cool green fangs and a while smiley face on its abdomen. It's one of our easiest-to-identify jumping spiders, and is sometimes called the "bold jumping spider," as it often turns to face humans rather than scuttling away. Read the comments to my earlier post to get lots of opinions on how to pronounce the name.



I got pretty decent pictures but Alexis got an amazing one.

Comments

[hai-kah-uhk.livejournal.com]

Cute! That's the spider I use in my comic book "Zephyr & Reginald: Minions For Hire."

[ndozo.livejournal.com]

I <3 Phiddipus audax. The kittens of the spider world.

[bedfull-o-books.livejournal.com]

Truly.

One ended up on my hand once, and it jumped from finger to finger, stopping occasionally to clean its feet, just like a cat. It was adorable....

Nice!

[(Anonymous)]

I've seen these little guys and always admired their l33t leaping skillz! Nice (?) to see them up close. Thanks a lot for that. Really.

;)

Hey, I saw this on line and thought you might enjoy it. Some phantabulous photos of the wilder side of UK life:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1373277/London-s-secret-wildlife-wonderland-revealed-photographer-rose-dawn-day-capture-stunning-images.html

Enjoy!

-Kent