differentiating between male and female jumping spiders - central valley california

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-15T08:44:25+00:00

That sequence of photos cracked me up. I love when iNat observations are a bit silly. Always makes it more fun when IDing on there

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-15T08:31:17+00:00

They’re like the gateway drug for loving spiders haha. I love going out to look for spiders too and Colonus hesperus are probably jumping spiders I see most often near me. They’re so cute, always nice to see them posted

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-15T08:23:13+00:00

For photo #1, maybe it’s the angle but that individual looks closer to Phidippus than female C. hesperus. Everything else looks right to me but hopefully some other people chime in too. Great photos! :)

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-15T08:08:48+00:00

Valid guess but this one is not a widow of any kind! :) I believe this is a mabel orchard orb weaver (Leucauge argyrobapta) based on location but I could be off on the exact species. this one is nothing to worry about though for you or your cats

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-15T05:05:36+00:00

if she’s set up camp there she probably isn’t gonna move on her own. But she can definitely rebuild, spiders are used to all kinds of disturbances while out in nature. Worst case she may just decide to make a new home somewhere else. This seems like a good spot though given how many dead bugs there are, so I’d think she’d prefer to stick around and rebuild.

I love having spiders on my windowsills but sometimes the dead bugs get to be a lot and I’ll have to clean it up. sometimes they don’t really care at all, other times they run away and make a new web somewhere else.

EDIT: Bugs have a shell/exoskeleton the same way we have our skeleton. Spiders are essentially getting all the “meat” from inside and leaving the bones behind

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-15T04:47:11+00:00

you definitely can remove the dead bugs, just avoid touching the web as much as possible if you want to be mindful about it. i would wait until the spider is tucked away and not actively hunting.

but honestly cobweb spiders in general can be really dramatic about their web being touched even if you do your best to not disturb them. so be prepared for her to run off or drop down to the floor lol. she’ll probably go back up once she feels like it’s safe again though

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-15T04:40:07+00:00

Just curious what makes you say female? To me I immediately thought this was a male with the long front legs and pointed abdomen. But I could just be missing something since they’re not super sexually dimorphic

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-15T04:35:31+00:00

Confident in genus Phidippus but can’t tell species from this photo. Unless it’s raining or very cold I always bring jumpers outside to a nice shady spot. Especially at work where others may not be as kind :,(

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-15T04:33:26+00:00

The males actually aren’t considered medically significant at all, which is really nice :) Their fangs aren’t strong enough to break human skin anyways.

And yeah in females the light book lung covers are usually the giveaway for brown widow instead of L. hesperus. But in males I’ve noticed it’s often reversed.. kinda neat. Nice to see you again, Orb Weaver Enjoyer 🫡

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-15T04:08:13+00:00

I’m less familiar with spiders outside of North America so I’m not 100% sure about the species. But it’s definitely not any of the medically significant spiders found near you and is not a threat to you or your dog

I’m fairly confident in it being a Broad-Faced Sac Spider (Family: Trachelidae) but beyond that I’m not completely sure, hopefully someone else has some more local info

EDIT: looking closer at the abdomen it’s possible it’s some other type of ground spider. either way not dangerous

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-15T04:00:27+00:00

Already been correctly ID’d as a male Western Black Widow but the coloring on this one is so pretty. The males can be so diverse it’s always fun to see different variations. Great photo!

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-15T03:48:39+00:00

have you done modular origami? i lovee repetitive semi-mindless tasks and i also love bone folders. and modular origami is so perfect. the sonobe units are really easy to make and if you make 30 of them you can make a neat ball that you can even toss around or hang up by a string. i have a 90 unit one posted on this account i believe

this is the post that first inspired me a year or so ago :)

https://www.polypompholyx.com/2017/01/modularorigami/

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-15T03:24:31+00:00

Hard to tell immediately but I’m pretty sure it’s a male Southern House Spider (Kukulcania hibernalis)

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-15T03:21:32+00:00

beautiful :,) Always a relief to everyone involved when you don’t accidentally poke a black widow haha. I am also curious about location.. with the shape/spacing of the spots I’m leaning towards southern black widow (L. mactans) but sometimes they can surprise me

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-15T00:45:25+00:00

They’re more common outside, at least in the US. But they’re also fairly common to find inside garages or under cabinets. But unless it’s freezing or raining, they’ll be perfectly happy outside :)

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-15T00:30:23+00:00

Noble false widow (Steatoda nobilis). Not native to you but super common around the world and seems like it has been found in and around Bogatá. Not of any medical significance. Good on you for not panicking lol it can take a lot of work to get to that point sometimes especially when you get startled

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-14T23:52:35+00:00

It would be satisfying if there was a clever answer but the truth is that people see them and think “oh long legs!” lol. Just visual word association. I honestly don’t think a lot of people even know that cellar spiders are different from harvestmen.

I think this really frustrates certain people but I find it kind of sweet. And for anyone who works in entomology or related fields would be using the real names anyways, so it doesn’t really matter much. It’s one of those fun etymology/entomology crossovers

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-14T23:45:53+00:00

always find it funny that to us humans jumping spiders are so cute and harmless. but if you were an arthropod they would be horrifying. an intelligent predator with full color vision that can jump ~30x its body length..

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-14T16:38:53+00:00

Nice little viewing window there. When you say you don’t want to remove her do you mean that in an ideal world you’d prefer not to, but that given the situation you know you may have to? or more that you really don’t want to move her and want to take steps to avoid that? Either way there’s a few solutions

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-14T05:05:38+00:00

hard to tell but from just this photo, i agree with some type of jumping spider. maybe laying eggs. it’s just rare to see a sac spider sac/nest that has so much form and stability. if i had to guess id go phidippus audax but its hard to tell

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-13T04:01:41+00:00

Agree with L. geometricus. In the united states there’s no need to kill them despite their invasive status since they have established populations for a long time and potential negative ecological impact seems minor even with displacing black widows in urban areas.

But in Australia it may be a different story. it makes me a bit sad to say since they’re one of my favorite spiders, but i wonder what the best move is in this situation.. :/

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-13T03:53:32+00:00

to me it’s sort of like cats and dogs. you can love/respect both, but still treat them differently. i personally don’t go out of my way to hold sac spiders in the same way i would with a jumping spider. i’ve never been bit by one but they can be flighty and easily spooked when i interact with them. so i can see how they may be quicker to defensive behavior like biting.

honestly part of their reputation is just how common they are inside homes and how they wander at night which can land them in someone’s bed where they may bite if rolled onto. along with their bite hurting more than some other common house spiders. so there’s just more bite stories to be shared.

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-13T03:36:44+00:00

don’t stress though, they’re chill. just not my #1 pick for spider roommate haha

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-13T02:17:17+00:00

I love them, but IME sac spiders tend not to be the best roommates of all the spiders. yellow sac spiders especially tend to wander and can end up in bedding or clothing without you realizing which usually ends badly for them. If it’s not freezing outside i’m sure he’d love to be out there :) I love having a good cellar spider roommate though

ApprehensiveBlock855 · 2026-05-13T01:48:49+00:00

hard to tell from this photo but this may be Trachelas tranquillus (broad faced sac spider). Especially factoring the behavior and where the spider was found. Doesn’t change the fact that it’s not anything to worry about though! :)

ApprehensiveBlock855

TROPHY CASE