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Index Of Jumping Spiders By Name

Bold Jumping Spider

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Arachnida

Order

Araneae

Family

Salticidae

Genus

Phidippus

Species

P. audax

Binomial Name

Phidippus audax

Bold Jumping Spider Images

How To Identify Bold Jumping Spiders

  • Bold Jumping Spiders are sexually dimorphic.
  • Female Bold Jumping Spiders:
    • Grow up to 0.6 inches (1.5 cm) in total body length.
    • Are black overall, with three white spots on their dorsal abdomens and a narrow white band around the front of their abdomens which taper down their sides.
    • May have a thin white stripe on their cephalothoraxes that extend from their posterior lateral eyes to the back of their carapaces.
    • Have iridescent green chelicerae.
  • Male Bold Jumping Spiders:
    • Grow up to 0.5 inches (1.3 cm) in total body length.
    • Have black cephalothoraxes.
    • Have abdomens in one of two color variations:
      • Black with white or yellow spots on the dorsal surface.
      • Yellow or gold surrounding black markings (Bradley 2012).
      • Both color variations have a white band around the front of their abdomens, which taper down their sides.
    • Have iridescent green chelicerae.
    • Have heavy, robust front legs fringed in black and white hairs.

Bold Jumping Spiders Notes

  • Bold Jumping Spiders are both powerful predators and one of the largest jumping spider species in North Carolina. They are “intraguild predators”, which means they readily attack other spiders that compete for the same environmental resources, like flies and grasshoppers (Okuyama 2002, https://doi.org/10.1007/s101440200014).
  • Look for Bold Jumping Spiders in forests, farm fields, and in and around buildings, especially in the Coastal Plain.
    • This species also sometimes enters buildings to hunt insects along window sills (Milne and Milne 1980).

Brilliant Jumping Spider

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Arachnida

Order

Araneae

Family

Salticidae

Genus

Phidippus

Species

P. clarus

Binomial Name

Phidippus clarus

Female Brilliant Jumping Spider Images

Male Brilliant Jumping Spider Images

How To Identify Brilliant Jumping Spiders

  • Like many spiders, Brilliant Jumping Spiders are sexually dimorphic.
  • Females Brilliant Jumping Spiders grow to 0.4 inches (1.0 cm) in total body length:
    • Are shades of tan, yellow, brown, and black overall.
    • Iridescent green chelicerae.
    • The dorsal surface of their abdomens have two dark bands that enclose white spots, and the front of their abdomens is edged with a wide, conspicuous, pale band.
  • Male Brilliant Jumping Spiders grow to 0.3 inches (0.7 cm) in total body length:
    • Black cephalothorax.
    • Have iridescent turquoise chelicerae.
    • The dorsal surface of their abdomens are covered in a wide, bright red patch split by a wide, uneven, black center band, and the front of their abdomens is edged with a thin, white band.
    • Legs are covered in short, black and white hairs.

Brilliant Jumping Spiders Notes

  • Brilliant Jumping Spiders are one of the more common jumping spiders spotted by casual observers.
    • They live throughout North Carolina and their preferred habitat is one in which humans often wander—areas surrounded by low, herbaceous vegetation, such as along roadsides and man-made nature trails.
    • These spiders will often crawl out into the open to investigate still and patient observers.
  • These spiders hunt by either coursing along the vegetation until they encounter prey or by lying in wait for prey to approach. They eat a wide variety of insects, including:
    • Species in the “true bug” order Homoptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha, which includes species such as Meadow Spittlebug Froghoppers (Philaenus spumaris) and Common Meadow Katydids (Ochelium vulgare) (Lichtenstein, Rice, and Pruitt 2018, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-018-2487-5).
    • Species in order Orthoptera, which includes grasshoppers, crickets, and katydids.
    • Flies (order Diptera).

Canopy Jumping Spider

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Arachnida

Order

Araneae

Family

Salticidae

Genus

Phidippus

Species

P. otiosus

Binomial Name

Phidippus otiosus

  • The Canopy Jumping Spider gets its informal, English, common name from its preferred habitat, which is in the canopy of trees.
  • This species is also known as the “Lazy Jumping Spider”, as its specific epithet (i.e. the species designation “otiosus“) means “idle” in Latin (Gaddy 2009).

Canopy Jumping Spider Images

How To Identify Canopy Jumping Spiders

  • Canopy Jumping Spiders are sexually dimorphic but share some characteristics in common.
    • Both males and females have:
      • Large, black eyes
      • Metallic green chelicerae
      • Two pairs of hair tufts on the cephalothorax next to the anterior lateral eyes.
        • One pair of tufts sticks straight up
        • The second pair sticks out to the side
  • Female Canopy Jumping Spiders:
    • Grow to 0.7 inches (1.7 cm) in total body length.
    • Cephalothorax:
      • Is black and covered in pale cream hairs.
      • Has a thin black band between the eyes.
      • Has a black clypeus (the area between the anterior eyes and the chelicerae), so looks like the spider has a mustache.
    • Abdomen:
      • Complex pattern of brown, tan, and cream
    • Legs are dark brown and covered with dense, short cream hairs.
  • Male Canopy Jumping Spiders:
    • Grow to 0.6 inches (1.4 cm) in total body length.
    • Cephalothorax:
      • Black overall but has a cream band around the back edge.
    • Abdomen:
      • Mostly black with paired white spots and a tan band that curves around the front of the abdomen
    • Legs are black with fine, white hairs.

Canopy Jumping Spiders Notes

  • Canopy Jumping Spiders are arboreal. They live in the tree canopy of hardwood and coniferous forests, as well as in shrubs and bushes.
  • These spiders are more common in the southern part of North Carolina.

Flat Jumping Spider

Phylum

Arthropoda

Class

Arachnida

Order

Araneae

Family

Salticidae

Genus

Platycryptus

Species

P. undatus

Binomial Name

Platycryptus undatus (formerly Metacyrba undata)

  • The Flat Jumping Spider is also known as:
    • Tan Jumping Spider,
    • Lorax Jumping Spider (Rose 2022).
  • This species was previously known by the scientific binomial Metacyrba undata (Bradley 2012).

Flat Jumping Spider Images

How To Identify Flat Jumping Spiders

  • Flat Jumping Spiders are sexually dimorphic, with females growing larger than males.
    • Females grow to 0.5 inches (1.3 cm) in total body length.
    • Males grow to 0.4 inches (1.0 cm).
  • Both male and female Flat Jumping Spiders:
    • Are shades of light gray, dark gray, black, and tan and have a complex, mottled appearance.
    • Have flattened cephalothoraxes, which gives them their common, informal English name.
  • The main differences between male and female Flat Jumping Spiders are:
    • The color of the clypeus (the region between their eyes and their chelicerae):
      • Females have bright white clypei.
      • Males have orange-brown or mahogany clypei.
    • The width of the pale dorsal abdominal band.
      • Both males and females have a jagged band of pale color down the dorsal center of their abdomens but this band is wider and more distinct on females.
    • Male chelicerae are covered in thick, white hairs.

Flat Jumping Spiders Notes

  • Flat Jumping Spiders are drab compared to many other jumping spider species, but their dull coloration camouflages them beautifully as they hunt.
  • Flat Jumping Spiders hunt on trees and their complex dark gray, light gray, and black bodies make them nearly invisible on tree bark.
  • This species is found throughout North Carolina and is common around suburban homes and buildings.
    • While extremely difficult to spot on tree trunks, these spiders often hunt on wooden fences and the outside walls of buildings, where they are much easier to spot.