White-jawed Jumping Spider - Blog Posts
White-jawed Jumping Spider (Hentzia mitrata), female, taken April 22, 2025, in Georgia, US
A cute female jumper who thinks she's hiding from me! I absolutely adore this species—they're my little locals. I'm seeing lots of adult males about, so they're preparing to breed soon! Juveniles of this genus are usually unable to be IDed to species until they begin to gain their adult colors. H. mitrata juveniles retain their white legs while H. palmarum (Common Hentz Jumping Spider) and most others in the genus develop brown front legs and brown or black patterning as opposed to orange.
White-jawed Jumping Spider (Hentzia mitrata), juvenile male, taken March 9, 2025, in Georgia, US
I love this small baby man with his bald patch on his head... It's a little too early for it to be jumping spider season, but I'm still occasionally seeing juveniles out and about. As April comes in, the magnolia greens will begin reaching adulthood and breeding! Mitrata waits until a little later in the year, but that just means I get to see the awkward teens for longer!
White-jawed Jumping Spider (Hentzia mitrata), juvenile, taken October 8, 2024, in Georgia, US
Videos of jumping spiders jumping at my camera are one of my favorite nature-related things to collect. On top of it being adorable, there is also variation in how each spider approaches the jump, especially their windup. I like scrolling through and looking at how all of them differ as individuals! This one was pretty calm about it, but I sometimes get jumpers who only aim with one leg, or even wave their legs around wildly while preparing to jump!