Invertebrates Codexery

Jumping spider

Largest spider family with exceptional vision and agile jumping.

Last updated

Their body length generally ranges from 1 mm upward, with the largest species being Hyllus giganteus.[1] Salticidae, the family containing jumping spiders, is the largest spider family, comprising roughly 13% of all spider species with almost 700 genera and about 7,000 described species.[2] Among arthropods, jumping spiders possess exceptional vision that includes stereoptic color perception, and they rely on sight for courtship, hunting, and navigation.[2]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumArthropoda
  3. SubphylumChelicerata
  4. ClassArachnida
  5. OrderAraneae
  6. InfraorderAraneomorphae
  7. FamilySalticidae

Named by Blackwall, 1841

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Jumping spider (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Quick Facts

Diversity
695 genera, 6,950 species

Facts from the source article.

Key facts and history

The anterior median eyes have very good vision and are built like a telescopic tube with a corneal lens and a second lens that focuses images onto a four-layered retina.[3] Their hunting behavior is confusingly varied compared to most other spider families, and they hunt diurnally as a rule.[4] Some species, such as those in the genus Portia, can negotiate long detours to capture prey, a behavior that is the subject of research.[5] The cephalothorax shape and eye patterns of jumping spiders make them relatively simple to tell apart from related spider families.[6]

Jumping spiders have faces that are roughly rectangular and oriented perpendicular to their movement direction, which gives them a "flat face" appearance with anterior eyes that look forward.[7] For jumping, salticids rely on their rear legs, and their limbs are extended through an internal hydraulic system that changes hemolymph pressure.[8][6] Before leaping, jumping spiders attach a silk dragline that offers braking and stabilization; if the jump is unsuccessful, they can ascend back up the dragline.[9] Both phylogenetic and morphological studies have firmly confirmed that Salticidae is a monophyletic group.[10]

What the cited sources add

A BBC News report from 2008 stated that male jumping spiders of the species Phintella vittata use ultraviolet B rays to communicate with females.[11] The same report noted that females were more likely to mate with males that could reflect UVB light compared to those in chambers where UVB was blocked.[11] A 2012 LiveScience article explained that jumping spiders (Hasarius adansoni) lack focal adjustment, have eyes too close for binocular stereovision, and do not use motion parallax while hunting.[12] That article also described how the two deepest photoreceptor layers in the principal eyes contain green-sensitive pigments, while the two closest to the surface contain UV-sensitive pigments.[12]

The LiveScience article reported that the spiders could easily catch flies under green light but consistently underestimated jumps under red light, supporting the defocus-based depth perception model.[12]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Jumping spider" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Richman, "Spiders of North America: An identification manual", American Arachnological Society, 2005, p. 205–216; "Watch the world's biggest jumping spider make a leap", BBC Earth, 2017-08-17; "Watch the world's biggest jumping spider make a leap", BBC Earth, 2017-08-17; Macík, "Phiddipus regius: the Jewel between Spider Predators", arachnos.eu, 2012-08-27 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Jumping spider" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Families", World Spider Catalog; Peng, "Five new and four newly recorded species of jumping spiders from Taiwan (Araneae: Salticidae)", Zoological Studies, 2002, p. 1–12 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Jumping spider" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rozenbaum, "Eye on the Web", Archives of Ophthalmology, November 2007, p. 1557; Harland, "'Eight-legged cats' and how they see – a review of recent research on jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae)", Cimbebasia, 2000, p. 231–240; Peaslee, "Spectral sensitivity in jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae)", Journal of Comparative Physiology A, May 1989, p. 359–63 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Jumping spider" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "A review of the ethology of jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae)", Bull. Br. Arachnol. Soc., 1992, p. 33–37 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Jumping spider" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tarsitano, "Araneophagic jumping spiders discriminate between detour routes that do and do not lead to prey", Animal Behaviour, February 1997, p. 257–266; "A review of the ethology of jumping spiders (Araneae, Salticidae)", Bull. Br. Arachnol. Soc., 1992, p. 33–37 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Jumping spider" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Richman, "Spiders of North America: An identification manual", American Arachnological Society, 2005, p. 205–216 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Jumping spider" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Richman, "Spiders of North America: An identification manual", American Arachnological Society, 2005, p. 205–216; Crompton, "The Life of the Spider", New American Library, 1954, p. 77 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Jumping spider" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Goetzke, "Role of legs and foot adhesion in salticid spiders jumping from smooth surfaces", Journal of Comparative Physiology. A, Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology, 2021, p. 165–177; "The jumping mechanism of salticid spiders", Journal of Experimental Biology, 1959, p. 654–664 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Jumping spider" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The jumping behavior of jumping spiders: a review", Peckhamia, 2018, p. 1–8; "Targeted jumps by salticid spiders (Araneae, Salticidae, Phidippus)", The Peckham Society, 15 December 2006; Harland, "How Animals See the WorldComparative Behavior, Biology, and Evolution of Vision", 2012, p. 132–163; Richman, "Spiders of North America: An identification manual", American Arachnological Society, 2005, p. 205–216; "Watch the world's biggest jumping spider make a leap", BBC Earth, 2017-08-17; "Targeted jumps by salticid spiders (Araneae, Saltic en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Jumping spider" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ramírez, "The Morphology And Phylogeny Of Dionychan Spiders (Araneae: Araneomorphae)", Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History, 27 June 2014, p. 1–374 [313]; Azevedo, "Combining genomic, phenotypic and Sanger sequencing data to elucidate the phylogeny of the two-clawed spiders (Dionycha)", Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, January 2022; Azevedo, "Combining genomic, phenotypic and Sanger sequencing data to elucidate the phylogeny of the two-clawed spiders (Dionycha)", Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, January 2022 (or en.wikipedia.org
  11. Morelle, "Study sheds light on spider sex", BBC News, 2 May 2008. facts only, no text reused. news.bbc.co.uk
  12. "Jumping Spiders' Unique Vision Revealed", Livescience.com, 26 January 2012. facts only, no text reused. livescience.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Jumping spider (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Named in this entry

Ant

More in Invertebrates

AnnelidAphidArachnidBivalviaBlack flyBody louseCentipedeCestodaChelicerataEchinodermFlatwormGastropod

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →