Volume 47, Number 1,
February 2001:
Checklist of Kansas Jumping Spiders

Text-only version

ISSUE HOME PAGE

ABOUT THIS ISSUE
- about KSN
- about the authors

IN THIS ISSUE
- introduction
- life cycle
- annotated list of Kansas jumping spiders
- salticid spider bite
- mimicry
- enemies: predators and parasites
- care and maintenance of jumping spiders in the lab
- references

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Checklist of Kansas Jumping Spiders
by Hank Guarisco, Bruce Cutler, and Kenneth E. Kinman

INTRODUCTION
Jumping spiders include some of the most fascinating, colorful hunting spiders which are easily recognized by their large eyes, especially the anterior median eyes (AME) (No. 59). Vision plays a predominant role in both hunting and courtship behavior. The males, which are often festooned with brightly colored patches of hairs and scales, perform elaborate courtship displays. These displays are some of the best examples of visual communication in invertebrates. While the smaller secondary eyes detect movement, the large AME enable jumping spiders to see shapes and perceive both depth and color. Recent behavior studies have shown that the common 3-spotted jumping spider (Phidippus audax) is able to associate food with red or green dots in T-maze choice tests.

Worldwide, there are approximately 3,500 species of jumping spiders which are placed in the family Salticidae. Every year, new species are discovered, mainly from remote regions of the globe. The 70 species of salticids that live in Kansas range from minute (a fraction of an inch) cryptic species, such as Talavera minuta and Euophrys diminuta, which inhabiting leaf litter, to the large (2+ cm or 1 inch), conspicuous members of the genus Phidippus. This common spider family can be found almost everywhere: in forests, prairies, fields, houses, and mountains. Its members have even been collected thousands of feet above ground and in the sails of ships hundreds of miles out to sea.

Jumping spiders are so ubiquitous because they and other spiders, such as the Linyphiidae, employ a very unique method of travel called, "ballooning." When certain weather conditions exist, these spiders climb to high places, such as the top of trees, elevate their bodies and release silk from their spinnerets. As the wind continues to pull silk from these organs, the length of the silk strand continues to increase. Eventually, it becomes large enough to act as a parasail. The spider releases its hold on the tree branch, and it is carried away by the wind. Sooner or later, the spider and its silk parasail land, and the process is repeated. Ballooning behavior enables some spiders to colonize remote locations, such as islands.

General references concerning spider biology include: (13), (19), (24), (25), and (32).