Early December Arthropods

There's snow on the ground at the moment, but in early December we had some warm weather and a couple ectothermic creatures revealed themselves.

This hefty jumping spider was clinging to the side of the garden shed as we worked installing two large water-catching tanks. It turned out to be Phidippus adumbratus.

Lateral view. I took her inside (I'm assuming it was a female based on the size which was around 10 mm long) and she cooperated nicely for some photos, then I placed her back where she was found.

This short-horn walkingstick, Parabacillus hesperus was hanging onto the outside of the greenhouse. I moved it to a more natural setting and noticed that it had only five legs!

Some Jumping Spiders from August

In August I had a visit from Tim Manolis, author of "Dragonflies and Damselflies of California", and the illustrator of "Field Guides to Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions" and the "Field Guide to Spiders of California and the Pacific Coast States".

He came primarily with the goal of searching for Maevia sp. jumping spiders. I observed and photographed two specimens in 2014, and more specimens are needed for a proper description of what might be a new species. Here are the two individuals that I found in 2014:

Maevia sp., Cuyamaca Woods, Julian, California, July 5, 2014. First found clinging to the stucco on the outside of the house.

Maevia sp., Cuyamaca Woods, Julian, California, July 20, 2014. Found on the stairs INSIDE the house.

We had no conclusive luck in our search of my property and neighboring areas, but did find some other jumpers. Here are the best images of them below:

Young Phidippus sp.. These young ones have eluded conclusive determination so far, although P. californicus is a possibility.

Young Phidippus sp.

An even smaller immature Phidippus sp.

It looks like this one is saying "They went that-away!". All of the above (minus the Maevia sp.) were photographed in a little indoor "photo studio", and then they were released back to the outdoors.