Holy smoke, that’s a big spider! Take a look the maple key in the picture below for scale. Fat and furry, it surprised me in the garden yesterday. Naturally, I wanted to know: friend or foe?
Friend, as it turns out! It’s the bold jumping spider (Phidippus audax), and it’s more interested in stalking the bugs in my garden (hopefully, the bad ones) than in biting me. You can ID it by its size and fuzziness, plus those three dots on the abdomen, usually white.
Forgive my fuzzy pictures. It was moving fast enough to blur the images. But you get the idea, I’m sure. Want to see one of these in motion? Here’s one on YouTube. I’m not alone in thinking jumping spiders are the cutest of arachnids. Your opinion might differ.
Don’t squish this one. Let it do its job.
3 comments
I know they’re good to have around but they give me the heebie jeebies!
Just close your eyes and think of lily leaf beetles (as spider buffet), Danielle.
I never squish spiders – movin’ them is the name of the game if they end up inside or in a spot outdoors where I may literally run into them. Gotta say, though, that the YouTube video was hard to watch – not so much the spider part but the fact that it was walking around on someones hand. Could only watch about 20 seconds before I had to click off 🙂