Salticidae Sunday - Phiddipus putnami (P. putnami)

Today I want to give a huge shout out to Phantastic Phids for our awesome P. putnami. It’s like they read my mind. I have been wanting to find one of these guys for a little while. I’m so excited to write this one! 

 

Kingdom	Anamalia
Phylum	Arthropod
Subphylum	Chelicerata
Class	Arachnida
Order	Araneae
Infraorder	Araneomorphae
Family	Salticidae
Genus	Phidippus
Species	P. putnami

 

Physical features 

One of the reasons I love the putnami is their coloring and unique face. In the right light, their eyes look hollow and almost eerie. So cool to see them up close. Our little guy has dark blue coloring and looks particularly fuzzy around the eyes and legs.  

 

They also seem to stand taller than the other spiders we care for. Of course, I may be biased. 

They range from 9-13 mm once they reach maturity, so they don’t get as big as some of the other species covered here so far. The males are the more colorful of the species with the vibrant colors seen above. The females are brown or grey, but still beautiful.  

Habitat 

I will admit that I haven’t been able to find much information about these guys, which is unfortunate because I would love to learn more about them. While there was not a wealth of information about these guys out there, we are lucky enough to have one of our own so we can learn through first hand observation.  

For now, these guys are located in the United States. Bug Guide has a map of places where putnami have been sighted. Based on that map, I would guess these guys are fairly adaptable.  

Personalities 

We only have one putnami, named Rhett. He took over my “Gone with the Wind” themed condo when my regal Scarlett was not doing well. It seemed fitting. Yes, he is mine, don’t let Brandon tell you otherwise. Anyway, as I was saying... We only have Rhett so I can’t compare personalities to others. If Rhett is any indicator of the species in general, I would say they are sweet, active, and hungry. Today was feeding day for him and I just witnessed him take down a second fly while he was munching another.  

Whomever says jumpers aren’t sentient really should come observe one of these little guys. Rhett loves to jump. One of our favorite things to do together is jumping from one hand to another. He will jump, turn and look at me as if to say, “Um, where’s the other hand?” As soon as I put the other hand up, he jumps to it and gives me the same look.  

You might even say he is a bit of a circus spider.  

Care 

We haven’t noticed much of a difference in care between the putnami and our other phids. Jumpers like to jump, so make sure their enclosure is big enough. It really doesn’t have to be too big though because they generally stay close to home. Be sure there is enough cross ventilation and that any decorations or plants you decide to use are non-toxic.  

Because our climate is dry, we make sure to check them daily to make sure they have adequate humidity levels. As I mentioned above, it seems like these guys are pretty adaptable. Don’t over mist though, that can cause bacteria and other problems.  

Speaking of bacteria, cleaning their enclosure is a must, but try not to disturb their molt sacks. We remove the dead flies, crickets, waxworms, etc. mist a cloth with water, and wipe down the inside walls. If you have rocks or another removable substrate, I recommend cleaning those also.  

 

If anyone has more information on these little guys, please let me know. There really isn’t much information available and I am loving them.  

 

https://bugguide.net/node/view/83490 

https://spiderid.com/spider/salticidae/phidippus/putnami/  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waxw4EDZpHc 

https://bugguide.net/node/view/74960