Bold Jumping Spider
HarmlessPhidippus audax · also called daring jumping spider
Jumping spiders are the ones that turn to look at you. They have the best vision of any spider, they hunt by stalking and pouncing rather than trapping, and they are curious rather than defensive. The bold jumper is the common black-and-white one found across North America, and its metallic green fangs are startling at close range.
Quick facts
- Bite risk
- Harmless. Bites are very rare and amount to a brief sting. Jumping spiders are among the least defensive spiders — they would rather look at you and leave.
- Size
- Body 8–15 mm. Body about a pea — compact, stocky and fuzzy rather than long-legged.
- Appearance
- Fuzzy black body with a triangular white spot and two smaller spots on the abdomen, and brilliant iridescent green or blue-green fangs. Two enormous forward-facing eyes dominate the face.
- Web
- Builds no catching web, only a small silk sleeping sac. Trails a safety line while jumping.
- Found in
- garden, indoors, grassland, woodpile
- Family
- Salticidae
- Range
- Most of the United States
How to identify a bold jumping spider
- Two huge forward-facing eyes and a boxy, alert head that turns to track movement.
- Jumps — several times its body length, always trailing a silk safety line.
- Compact, fuzzy body rather than long spindly legs.
- Iridescent green or blue fangs, visible in a decent photo.
How it behaves
Active by day. Stalks prey visually, creeps close and pounces. Frequently turns to watch a person, which reads as curiosity and is essentially what it is.
What the bold jumping spider is confused with
One observation settles each of these.
Zebra jumpers are smaller with bold black-and-white stripes rather than spots, and are usually on sunlit walls.
If you think you were bitten
- Most suspected spider bites are not spider bites. Studies of patients presenting with a “spider bite” repeatedly find that the large majority are bacterial skin infections — frequently MRSA — which need antibiotics rather than reassurance. A spreading, painful, pus-filled sore is far more likely to be an infection than a spider.
- Wash it, ice it, and watch it. Clean the area with soap and water, apply a cold pack, and keep an eye on it.
- Get medical care if the wound spreads or darkens, if you develop cramping, sweating, fever or severe abdominal pain, or if you are confident it was a widow or a recluse.
- Bring the spider only if it is already dead and to hand. Do not go looking for it. Doctors treat symptoms, not species.
In the US, the Poison Help line is 1-800-222-1222. This site is a reference, not medical advice.