Austin Blues

Ronak and I found this creepy-looking spider on the side of our house. We thought it curious that it had prey in hands, but there was no web to be seen. We wondered how it had captured its dinner.

So I snapped a few photos (some of which came out creepier looking than the spider itself) and searched the net, hoping to identify the strange spider.

Texas Agriculture Extension Service has a nice page on spiders which helped me identify my spider as a jumping spider, specifically a bold jumper (Phidippus audax), which sounds scarier than it is.

Jumping spiders, leap towards their prey, leaving a string of web as a repelling rope in their wake. Which explains why we saw our spider chowing down with no fancy web in sight.

They are commonly found around houses and gardens, so I was especially happy to learn that they are not harmful to humans.