A jumping spider’s life is short, structured, and surprisingly predictable. Understanding the stages helps you provide the right care at the right time.
🥚 Stage 1: Egg
Everything begins in the egg sac. A female lays 40–200 eggs in a silken sac and guards it for 3–6 weeks. The eggs are small and white, packed in a central mass within the sac. Temperature during this period is critical — too cold slows development; too hot increases mortality.
🔵 Stage 2: Spiderling (1st–5th Instar)
Newly hatched spiderlings are called first-instar larvae — they don’t yet move or feed. After the first molt, they become mobile but still don’t eat. Feeding begins after the second molt, typically at 2nd instar. From here, the spiderling molts every 2–4 weeks, growing substantially each time.
After the second molt, spiderlings naturally disperse. In the wild, they do this by ballooning — releasing a thread of silk to catch air currents and travel. In captivity, once they become mobile hunters they must be separated, as they will predate each other.
🟡 Stage 3: Juvenile (5th–8th Instar)
By the 5th instar, a jumping spider is starting to look like a miniature adult. The eyes are prominent, the colouration is beginning to develop, and the spider is hunting with adult technique. Molt intervals lengthen as the spider gets larger — expect 4–6 weeks between molts at this stage.
🔶 Stage 4: Sub-Adult
The penultimate instar before adulthood. At this stage, the final sex characteristics are clearly visible — males begin showing the iridescent cheliceral colouration, females show the full abdominal pattern. This is the last opportunity for significant growth.
⭐ Stage 5: Adult
After the final molt, your spider is fully adult. It will not grow again. Females typically have 2–3 years ahead of them; males 12–18 months. The adult stage is when personality is most developed, handling is most reliable, and for those interested in breeding, when reproductive activity begins.