User talk:Vallam

Good call on the jumping spiders
Hi,

Thanks for removing that paragraph. Dermatologists seem to have it in for the poor jumping spiders. A number of years ago there was a really over-the-top article on Phidippus johnsoni. I eventually wrote to the author. Still thinking that he might be right I purchased a couple at different times from a dealer. Both of them turned out to be completely non-aggressive. I never even elicited as much as a threat display from the first one, and the second one, which I got as a spiderling and raised to maturity, once got out without my knowing it. When I discovered it under a sheet of paper I was so surprised that I reached out without thinking and picked it up between thumb and forefinger. In my experience the only way to get bitten by a jumping spider is to pinch or squeeze it, but this spider let me put it back in its cage. When I released it the spider just sat there as though nothing had happened.

I have no idea of how people ever get themselves bitten by P. johnsoni. They are really attractive spiders, however, so maybe little kids pick them up? Who knows. Could it be that grape pickers in vinyards come in contact with them by accident? P. johnsoni seems remarkably unconcerned about the approach of a human hand. P. audax will move out of the way. Many other jumping spiders are observant of people, but cautious enough to move to safer ground if a human gets close. So I find it hard to believe that people get bitten without asking for it somehow. People seem prepared to believe the worst about spiders. There are a few that are best left alone, but the vast majority will only bite in self defense.

P0M (talk) 06:29, 6 April 2012 (UTC)


 * Thanks. I found the offending quote on Phidippus audax over on the whatsthisbug subreddit, and traced it back to the spider bite article.  I don't edit much, but it's an uphill battle to keep people from being terrified of every tiny creature they find without having misinformation on wikipedia as well.  I'm sure you're aware that spider bites are constantly misdiagnosed, so I would take any claim that jumping spiders are constantly biting humans with a grain of salt.  I mean, from what I've seen most reported spider bites happen to people in their sleep without ever seeing or identifying the supposed culprit.  Even the CDC uses ridiculous apocryphal evidence to wrongly incriminate spiders.


 * Beautiful A. aurantia pictures, by the way. You might enjoy /r/spiders, we can always use more experts in our midst.