Phidippus princeps, grayish jumping spiders, were commonly seen on Barnes tallgrass prairie remnants in Racine County, WI. Remnant 1 had been burned prior to 1970, and is hand weeded and sections mowed to control invasive weeds. It is a fine quality native prairie, with over 80 species of native plants. Remnant 2 was periodically mowed in late September or October. It is a degraded prairie, formerly intermittently grazed, with over 40 species of native plants. Shrubs on these prairies are gray dogwood, new Jersey tea, dogbane (A. androsaemifolium) and scattered non-native invasive shrubs, including buckthorn, Japanese honeysuckle and multflora rose.

Surveys for grayish jumping spiders were conducted during several weeks in September, 2019-2022. During the surveys, two persons looked for P. princeps on the prairie plants for a couple of hours. I photographed the spiders and the plants they were found on. Although many species of prairie plants are found on these remnants, we found P. princeps on three species: common milkweed, Asclepias syriaca; wild bergamot, Monarda fistulosa, and goldenrod, Solidago sp. These plants were located at or near the highest parts of these prairie remnants.

September 2019
Remnant no., Size, No. of P. princeps seen, Plant species they were seen on
1, 4 ½ acres, 2, wild bergamot leaves

September 2020
Remnant no., Size, No. of P. princeps seen, Plant species they were seen on
1, 4 ½ acres, 1, wild bergamot leaf

2, 10 acres, 2, common milkweed leaf and stem

September 2021
Remnant no., Size, No. of P. princeps seen, Plant species they were seen on
1, 4 ½ acres, 3, wild bergamot leaf, goldenrod sp.
leaf, common milkweed leaf and stem

2, 10 acres, 3, goldenrod sp. leaf, common
milkweed leaf and stem

September 2022
Remnant no., Size, No. of P. princeps seen, Plant species they were seen on
1, 4 ½ acres, 4, goldenrod sp. leaf, common
milkweed leaves and stem

2, 10 acres, 5, common milkweed leaves and stem

Posted on February 19, 2023 09:19 PM by bkis