Achievement Get: Bold Jumping Spider
A Non-Update on the Site
I still haven't gotten around to rebuilding the catalogue - I've had a lot of other higher priority tasks and meanwhile I was trying to figure out if Bear Blog somehow supported dynamic static site generation since I don't want to learn Jekyll again. So my most recent spidering achievement I can't post there, and I will instead post first as a blog entry.
Phidippus Audax
Very excited to share a lifetime first (granted I've only been spidering for about 5 years), a Bold Jumping Spider, Phidippus Audax.
I've been hoping to see one of these for a few years, once I saw them in my field guide with their beautiful metallic chelicerae and a range that covers almost the entire contiguous United States. I had to see one eventually! And here one was in my pathetic garden this spring, hanging out on a potted succulent.
The Bold Jumper isn't the most audaciously colored spider, not even the most vibrant Salticid - hell, not even the flashiest Phidippus, if I'm being honest. But it is undeniably striking and well named, and for good reason it is the featured image on the Wikipedia article for Chelicerae. I suppose that makes it one of the "charismatic" species of spider and I'm happy for it for that.
My guess based on the large amount of banding on the leg and the narrow stance is that this specimen is a female. And, in fact, I just learned that I probably saw a male on the same plants a couple weeks earlier (it was at sundown, and I couldn't get enough light for a clear face shot), so I'm hoping they're producing a new generation of gorgeous bold jumpers.
Photos
Here is the beautiful spider. Thanks for sharing this milestone with me.
