The female is brownish grey, the carapace being darker especially around the eyes, with a broad tan stripe that extends onto the abdomen where it breaks into two chevrons.

[3] Plexippus paykulli is generally found living on and around man-made structures, in particular on buildings,[7] although it has also been recorded from citrus groves[10] and cotton fields.

[3] Like all jumping spiders, this species does not spin a web but builds a silken retreat in an elevated position such as the edge of the ceiling from which it makes hunting forays.

On a camouflaged background, the spider approached with greater stealth and jumped from a shorter distance to attack a mobile prey item.

In a study done in New Zealand, these spiders hunted and consumed individuals of sixteen species of arthropod from fourteen families and six orders.

[12] They are reported as being a predator of mosquitoes in African houses[14] and of agricultural pests such as the cotton jassid[15] and the sugarcane planthopper.

[16] In a building where the only available prey were German cockroaches, Blattella germanica, the spiders not only survived but also bred on this monophagous diet.