What spiders did I photograph?
May 9, 2017 19:55:05 #
I photographed these spiders at Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia this afternoon. I was getting shots of flora of all kinds when these 2 came out from under a plant embedded in a stone wall. I didn't think to change from aperature to shutter priority and have quite a few blurred shots taken when the spiders were moving. I couldn't (and can't) figure out whether they were fighting or mating? And I have no idea what kind of spider I'm seeing. Can anyone enlighten me??
May 9, 2017 20:27:37 #
May 9, 2017 23:57:32 #
May 10, 2017 00:04:08 #
Could be two mature male Bold Jumping spiders fighting, or a male/female courtship dance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phidippus_audax
May 10, 2017 00:18:09 #
This is very interesting. They are bold jumping spiders, Phidippus audax. Now, spiders often mate face-to-face, much like this, but it looks to me that both have white bands on their legs which are male characters, so maybe both are males?! So what is going on? I have not heard of this before in spiders, but this could be antagonistic combat between rival males.
May 10, 2017 02:18:07 #
Since males and females can look very much alike with this particular jumper, I would have to guess the one in the lower part of the image is a male and upper is a female, judging by the size of the abdomen. Of course the angle could be altering perception. Just my best guess 
May 12, 2017 10:23:49 #
Thank you LoneRangerFinder, tinusbum, Nikonian72, Mark Sturtevant, and Macronaut. I've been tied up with some family & personal issues and this is the first chance I've had to sit and review your responses. I had a suspicion I was looking at jumpers, but really didn't know for sure. Thinking back on it, one of the spiders did jump away when they separated. Thanks, again, for the ID help.
May 12, 2017 19:31:53 #
You are welcome. But I still think it is *cough* two males in combat *cough*. 😉
May 13, 2017 14:27:57 #
Mark Sturtevant wrote:
Probably right You are welcome. But I still think it is *cough* two males in combat *cough*. 😉
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