Attached to the front door trim, this inch-long spider was hard to miss with its orange coloring. The rest of the body appears striped gray and black. Why are we seeing these spiders now?
Phidippus adumbratus is found primarily in southern California, with a few appearances as far north as San Francisco, according to iNaturalist. Active year round, this species of jumping spider is substantially more visible from August through December.
Some spiders are common enough to have a moniker or nickname. I couldn’t find any common name for this species. But the Jumping Spider family intrigued me. Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis has published a primer on jumping spiders. “Most spiders catch prey on webs and have a keen tactile sense for detecting vibrations. These spiders are not known for their vision because they rely on detecting prey on their webs. Jumping spiders, on the other hand, do not construct webs for catching prey. They actively hunt during the day, sneaking up on and catching their prey. As a result they need very good vision to capture prey.”
What jumping spider species do you have in your neighborhood?
