We tend to think of the above species with it's flesh-rotting bite as an unmistakable threat. Whether it's the first or the thousandth time, many of us cringe when we see one... knowing full-and-well what they are capable of doing to our soft, living tissue. (WARNING: GRAPHIC).

And no wonder. The brown recluse is a cruel, efficient creature that can reproduce itself by the hundreds each season and live without food for up to 6 months. Whether another insect is dead or alive, they will eat it. They actually prefer to eat things that have already died.

Having problems with them? Don't bother calling a traditional exterminator or pest control service- it's no use. Recluse spiders do not "clean" themselves and are very unlikely to ingest any pesticide residue that is sprayed around your home. The chemicals that you use to kill roaches and other insects just saves them the time of chasing live prey items down individually by killing and preserving them en masse. That's right. The use of traditional pesticides creates a stockpile of prekilled food for your local Recluse colony. While certain chemicals may irritate or scatter individual recluse spiders, please don't believe for a second that they will kill off an entire infestation. They are chemically resistant to these puny, human methods of eradication. There is some controversy surrounding the matter- but it is generally understood that completely eradicating a recluse colony in your house is not even possible. Even small carnivorous creatures that eat spiders for a living- like lizards, frogs and birds- can be fatally injured by the brave act of swallowing a biting recluse.  Loxosceles may end up getting digested by something higher up on the foodchain, but it goes down fighting and inflicting damage.

Interestingly, Loxosceles reclusa is also formidable opponent to many other native arachnid species. They are fast, powerful and aggressive. Put "in the ring" with an arachnid of comparable size, Loxosceles kills quickly, precisely and with cold calculation.. They have a talent for duels-of-the-fang, enabling them to engage and methodically penetrate the defenses of many other spiders during interspecies combat.  Garden-variety Orb Weavers all the way up to badass, fully grown Wolf Spiders are easily slaughtered and summarily eaten by these eight legged bastards. Is there any hope, you ask? Well, glue traps have been proven effective at culling Loxosceles numbers. If you don't mind a live, perpetually enraged flesh-eating spider watching you go about your daily activities for an entire 6 months while it slowly starves to death on a sticky piece of paper. But- believe it or not- this natural born killer has it's own predator.


Enter, Phidippus audax. The "Daring Jumping Spider".




These clumsy looking, adorably ugly little creatures are the mid-sized arachnid equivalent to Johannes Liechtenauer . They are lightning fast- let me repeat that, LIGHTNING fucking FAST in a spiderfight. In a duel-to-the-death of Eight Legged Freaks, they rule supreme over the Brown Recluse. They are natural enemies and predators of Loxosceles reclusa and enjoy ripping them apart, limb-by-eight-legged-limb. There is no contest in an engagement between the two- even given the Jumping Spider's smaller overall size. While Phidippus audax is primarily diurnal (daytime active), they will venture off in to any dark spaces and crevices that you put in front of them- doing so in search of edible nocturnal arachnid weaklings like the Brown Recluse. They're not afraid of the dark or what lies beyond it. They don't give a fuck. That's why they're called "Daring Jumping Spiders".  

Phidippus spiders pose no danger to humans. They're practically harmless. I say "practically" for a reason. If you're a dumbfuck and you put your face too close to one of these...it'll probably look at you with it's beady, forward-facing little eyes and jump on you to bite the ever-living-fuck out of you. But Phidippus venom isn't going to hurt you beyond a little itching. It feels like a mosquito bite. It certainly won't rot your flesh off. Generally, they're pretty well known to be docile little fuzzies. If you hate Brown Recluse Spiders, then encourage these diminutive arachnid predatory specialists to take up residence in and around your home. Just refrain from squishing them. Not only do they compete with ole' Loxosceles reclusa for food...they MAKE food out of the aforementioned. This species of arachnid is our friend. It is a powerful ally in the fight against necrotic arachnidism.  

So, Phidippus audax...here's to you. You adorable, disfigured little savior of humanity.

This thread needs more fire.

Good range report.

I think JG Sales has those in stock right now.

Patrick

Super...

Where can I order some of these Phidippus spiders?

That's just awesome.

One of my cousins is missing a chunk out of the top of his foot because of one of those fiddlebacked bastards.

Spiders are cool. It's just those eyes!

Spidery Awesomeness –– Watch in HD

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Those jumping spiders are awesome.  I once watched one stalk, pounce on, and kill a housefly (that's right, an MF'n FLY), no web involved.  They'll just sit calmly on your hand if you let them.

 

Spiders are cool.

Wow, i didn't know that. From here on out, those little jumping bastards are getting a free pass when I see 'em.

Phidippus magpullius audax

I thought certain species of orb weaver preyed on fiddlebacks if they caught them in their webs? We have a few of the little orb weavers in the corners of our attic and in the corners of a few closets we rarely use, and we pretty much leave them alone since they munch on other pests and don't come off their webs.

Yep

ALL HAIL Phidippus!

Sounds like a Greek name.

I fucking hate spiders

But seriously, first post nails it.

Jumping spiders, Daddy long legs, and Mantis' have always had a pass from me to live in the house.

I bet Harvester approves of this thread.

love jumping spiders

I, for one, welcome our arachnid overlords.

dont ferget... ya git bit by a recluse, treat the spot with a nitro patch to reduce damage and healing time SUBSTANTIALY.

your dumbshit doctor may not have read about it cus it aint in playboys yet, so make sure to tell the stupid fuck about it...

Ah my boys. Very common in florida in several varieties. I keep one for a pet once.  Throw em a cricket or a grasshopper every few days and they kill and eat it. Didn't know they hunted brown recluse. They can jump 2-3 times their own length.

How does the nitro patch help it? it doesn't cause it to spread from veinous dilation? Very interesting. any link to studys or info? thanks

and I thought wolf spiders were cool....this little guy rocks!

One of my lasting souveniers from living in Texas.  Still have the little hole in my leg to remember it by after 30 years.  I thought the scorpions in the laundry room would get eventually get me, but the little BR bastard hid in a pair of pants in the chest of drawers.

 

They were featured on that show "Monster Buf Wars" (I forget which science channel it was on).  The are indeed little bad asses.

Kent Brockman is my hero!

It's all good.

OK who sells em.

CP

I've always liked jumping spiders.  The only types I like to handle (when I can catch them).  Sadly, they are very rare where I live currently, although the local ones are not this species.  

Where can I get these?  I'd like to introduce them here.  

We don't get many brown recluses here but we do get these nasty brown spiders that I get bit by from time to time.  Their bit hurts like hell.  Worst one it felt like someone got a pair of red-hot hooks and stuck them in my skin (that fucker hanged on good, too) and the sharp pain took hours to go away and there was milder, duller pain for many days and the bite mark was visible for a while.  Their bite always hurts like hell, but it varies.  They can jump quite a bit, and while they sometimes make crappy little webs, they like to hide in holes during the day and roam around at night.  They're almost the same size as recluses but the body looks a bit different.  Have no clue what they are but I want them dead and this jumping spider looks like it could do the trick while killing other critters around here as well.

FIRST POST WIN!

I have jumpers all over my place.  They're comical and I leave them be.  Want some fun?  Put one in a cup with a fly.

You got that right.  Add 1 more to the Team Recluse Harvesters. Go get em jumpy!

Don't give them any ideas.

Take off, and nuke the entire site from orbit.

Just to be sure.


Or deploy the jumping spiders, I guess.

No matter how bad ass......there is always someone who can take you.

No BS. A girlfriend of a co-worker of mine was bitten by a Brown Recluse a few years back..... and died from it. She was in her mid-forties.

You guys who want to buy some might do well to poke around over at http://www.arachnoboards.com/. They pop up from time to time for sale by individuals.

If you're so inclined, you may even want to poke around the outdoors...Phidippus audax has a range that covers most of the U.S. It loves shrubbery. You can find them along woodlines during warm weather, sometimes around gardens and bushes- sometimes sticking to the outside of doors around their frames or on the side of your house.
It's possible to lure them in with a plastic tub containing small crickets/mealworms. Oh yeah, and consider yourself forewarned: They might pop out of nowhere and bite the fuck out of you. They're bold little creatures and can be defensive of their eggs/nests until they're acclimated to humans. I admire this about them.

Watch for those adorable little green fangs that seem to be in perpetual motion...that's one way to tell them apart from other spiders. They're inquisitive and love to stare at you with big, black eyes- constantly rotating their little heads to follow your movement, always poised to fling themselves somewhere.

It isn't hard to breed them. They fuck like little bristly, fanged rabbits. It's funny to watch them consummate.

what is a nitro patch?

That's exactly what I was thinking. I don't think Lowe's sells 'em.

I'm assuming nitroglycerin for heart angina?

"look at him.....he doesn't a shit"

Ok, I'm going out tomorrow to harvest these things, and dump a couple dozen in my house.

Johnny_Reno's Rules of Life

1) If it doesn't have two or four legs, it dies.

2) If it considers me to be a meal, it dies.


Both of these spiders are in violation of rule #1.....and probably rule #2.

That's worth a try, but we don't know if it's gonna affect them.