This adult female Phidippus princeps (jumping spider, Salticidae) from Greenville County, South Carolina, USA, was filmed after it captured a wolf spider (Lycosidae) and moved to the top of a branch to feed on it. At the beginning of this clip the jumping spider was just beginning to chew or macerate the legs of the wolf spider, and the cephalothorax or prosoma of the wolf spider was still relatively intact. Phidippus jumping spiders are voracious predators on many kinds of spiders, as well as insects. They may also feed on flower nectar or pollen, as has been demonstrated in other jumping spiders.
The four clips shown here (in sequence) depict an adult female jumping spider (Phidippus princeps, Araneae, Salticidae) from Greenville County, South Carolina, USA, feeding on a male mosquito (Diptera, Culicidae). Most of the complete sequence of feeding is shown. Soft-bodied prey like this are thoroughly macerated with the chelicerae. Note the use of the two front pairs of legs (legs I and II) to manipulate the prey during feeding. [I highly recommend the AVI codec used to process this video (Microsoft MPEG 4 Video CODEC V3)]
This adult female jumping spider (Phidippus princeps) from Greenville County, South Carolina, was filmed as it fed upon a captured fly. Note how this spider chewed its prey with its fanged chelicerae. The sharp-edged fangs are opposed by teeth at the end of the chelicerae. Chewing (maceration) alternated with suction (feeding) as well as regurgitation of digestive fluids into the prey.
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