Regal jumping spider slings

[jay17]

So, long story short, I bought this P. regius at the Doncaster IHS show thinking it was male, but a few days after bringing it home, it turned out to be a she and left me a pleasant surprise.

Interesting stuff I've observed thus far

• The mother killed a large cricket and placed it in the nest, not for herself but presumably for the babies
  
• When the nest is disturbed the mother returns to it to put the webbing back in the right place
  
• The mother will flee from the nest when disturbed but vigilantly watches the nest from a distance
  
• The babies only showed interest in live prey and each other after their first molt
• Babies appear to only start to produce web after the first molt (?)
• Hatched with whitish-blue markings that were lost after the first molt
  
• Both the slings and the mother have a strong aversion to water

The proud parent

Building the web

Mother with the egg sac

The freshly-hatched kids

The slings, in the last pic the one on the left is first molt, the right hasn't molted yet

Notes
- 10/Nov/2017 (Eggs laid)
- 24/Nov/2017 (Eggs hatched, at least 50 babies)
- 10/Dec/2017 (First few slings left the web + were separated into a deli cup)
- 16/Dec/2017 (Separated slings molted and started to show interest in moving prey)

Thanks for reading! Will post more pics as I take them.

 

[Enn49]

Congratulations. Don't be surprised if she makes another sac or 2, mine did. In my case mum stayed inside the cocoon until the eggs hatched each time (she had 3 sacs). As for water, I found both mum and babies would go straight to where I sprayed.

 

[jay17]

Congratulations. Don't be surprised if she makes another sac or 2, mine did. In my case mum stayed inside the cocoon until the eggs hatched each time (she had 3 sacs). As for water, I found both mum and babies would go straight to where I sprayed.

That's interesting about the water, like I said mine are the complete opposite and run away from it! And congratulations on your spider's babies too!

 

[Enn49]

That's interesting about the water, like I said mine are the complete opposite and run away from it! And congratulations on your spider's babies too!

Unfortunately Both mum and the 1 baby I kept have died. I think 3 sacs and the care she took of them was just too much for mum and she died just as sac 3 began to emerge. I have no idea why the baby died, just a couple of weeks ago, she was from the 1st sac made on Christmas Day 2016 and was active one day and dead the next. I miss them both they're such great characters.

 

[jay17]

@Enn49 I'm sorry for your loss. I'm sure it was from no fault of your own.

Bonus fistbump from one of the kids.

 

[Enn49]

@jay17 I love that fistbump. I might have to have a couple from you when they get a bit bigger.

 

[jay17]

Update! I went away to a friend's place for a few days and when I came back at least 30 of the babies had escaped and were on my ceiling. Caught most of them but every so often I find one on the wall or even on me. In better news, they're all behaving so much more like adults now and they're starting to eat fruit flies. Plus the mother seems to be laying another egg sac as she's constructed a thick web at the back of her tank.

 

[smallbike]

This is too much! So cute!

 

[jay17]

The babies are all eating now! They're getting so much better at catching fruit flies. Sometimes they miss and look ridiculous flailing around by a string of web but they get there eventually. They're also incredibly aware of their surroundings and they'll turn to watch me move things around.

More pics of the mother who has definitely laid another egg sac.

 

[jay17]

 

[Enn49]

They're so cute . I really miss mine

 

[Kymura]

How can anyone not absolutely love these guys, <3
we get the teeny tiny ones, only spiders I willingly handle,
in my defense....Not my doing, they infest my porch and crawl all over everyone.

 

[jay17]

Since my last post the babies have gone through 2-3 more molts (one even molted on my fingertip!) It's now apparent that they are a "recessive type" - they display some unusual colouration and significant variation between individuals. Some are plain black, some are developing brown/gold scales, and some are now straight up orange! Unfortunately, I just found out that recessive phids tend to fail to make it to adulthood, which would explain my now ONE remaining spiderling from the very first egg sac, who now isn't looking so good either.

On the bright side, I do still have at least 30 from the second egg sac that are doing great and still going strong.

Pics to follow!

 

[Enn49]

Since my last post the babies have gone through 2-3 more molts (one even molted on my fingertip!) It's now apparent that they are a "recessive type" - they display some unusual colouration and significant variation between individuals. Some are plain black, some are developing brown/gold scales, and some are now straight up orange! Unfortunately, I just found out that recessive phids tend to fail to make it to adulthood, which would explain my now ONE remaining spiderling from the very first egg sac, who now isn't looking so good either.

On the bright side, I do still have at least 30 from the second egg sac that are doing great and still going strong.

Pics to follow!

That could explain why I lost all mine. Only one made it almost to adulthood (11 months from hatching) out of 3 sacs.

 

[jay17]

Spiderling molting on my finger

 

[jay17]

The last two from the first egg sac, just one of these left now

 

[Enn49]

Spiderling molting on my finger

That is just so cute.

 

[jay17]

Now for some variants!

 

[MassExodus]

Fantastic thread, great pics!

 

[Tortoise Tom]

I used to watch jumping spiders watching me when I was a kid. Had them all around my house. I would catch bugs to feed to them. Had a few take flies right from my fingers.

Loved this thread.