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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Arachnids (Arachnida) » Spiders (Araneae) » True Spiders (Araneomorphae) » Entelegynes » Jumping Spiders (Salticidae) » Dendryphantinae » Phidippus » audax group (Phidippus audax group) » Phidippus pulcherrimus
Photo#34629
Phidippus pulcherrimus and friend - Phidippus pulcherrimus - female
Copyright © 2005 Jeff Hollenbeck

Phidippus pulcherrimus and friend - Phidippus pulcherrimus - Female
Weirsdale, Marion County, Florida, USA
September 4, 2005
Size: Immature
I collected an immature regius several years ago that suffered the same fate. Both spiders appeared well fed, but that was not the case.
The spiders become restless before the worm is ready to emerge, and often travel to the nearest water source or damp area. The worm emerges, leaving a dead spider behind, and goes about it's business.
If captive, the nematode suffers the same fate as it's host.
A drop of water was added to give some body to the dried worm.
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Phidippus pulcherrimus and friend - Phidippus pulcherrimus - female Phidippus pulcherrimus and friend - Phidippus pulcherrimus - female
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Contributed by Jeff Hollenbeck on 15 October, 2005 - 11:06am
Last updated 21 January, 2006 - 8:30am

Whoa!
Poor spider - what a way to go! I love jumping spiders and am sad to see they can suffer such a grisly fate. Great shots, though.
… Ashley Bradford, 3 March, 2008 - 7:25pm login or register to post comments

Nice,
interesting and a bit gross as well. Do you know the range of these worms? Oh, my daughter wants to know how the worm gets in there.
… Lynette Schimming, 15 October, 2005 - 3:42pm login or register to post comments

 
Hi.
Go to this page and read the info about the life cycle on page 126. It will give you a better answer than I can plus more about mermithids.
http://www.americanarachnology.org/JoA_free/JoA_v13_n1/JoA_v13_p121.pdf
… Jeff Hollenbeck, 15 October, 2005 - 4:15pm login or register to post comments

 
Interesting -
I knew that Jerusalem Crickets suffered from a similar pest but not about the spiders. The Jerusalem Crickets often show up in swimming pools because of the compulsion to seek out water (we had one posted that had drowned just the other day) - I wonder if the same is true of the spiders?
… Hannah Nendick-Mason, 15 October, 2005 - 8:26pm login or register to post comments

 
Maybe so.
Fungus is another more commonly encountered killer of Phidippus and other spiders and insects. I have lost a few great specimens and photo opps as a result of fungal infections in spiders.
A spider might look great one day, and the next day it has a collasped abdomen covered in white fuzz.
In FL, I have not yet encountered fungi in any specimens south of Orlando.
… Jeff Hollenbeck, 15 October, 2005 - 9:45pm login or register to post comments

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