Greetings fellow Foxies
Jumping spiders (family Salticidae) are miniature warriors of the spider world. They have the most species of the spider families and are very common, but are seldom noticed because they are so tiny.
Jumping spiders are tiny day-active hunters that will tackle prey several times their size. They are the most intelligent and endearing of spiders, which will stand their ground and rear up when disturbed. Jumping spiders have outstanding eyesight.. The large, centre pair of eyes faces straight forward, giving the spider excellent resolution, and they have good color vision.
Jumping spiders (family Salticidae) are miniature warriors of the spider world. They have the most species of the spider families and are very common, but are seldom noticed because they are so tiny.
Jumping spiders are tiny day-active hunters that will tackle prey several times their size. They are the most intelligent and endearing of spiders, which will stand their ground and rear up when disturbed. Jumping spiders have outstanding eyesight.. The large, centre pair of eyes faces straight forward, giving the spider excellent resolution, and they have good color vision.
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Jumping spiders make silk, but they don’t make trap webs, preferring to spot their prey from afar and leap on it (they can cover 50 times their body length in a single leap). Since they are not tied to a single location by a web, they spend a lot of time on foot (they can remember visual landmarks and relocate their nests) or head-down, near the top of a plant, like a sailor in a crow’s nest. Whether they spot their prey from a perch or find it during a walk, they can spin a dragline when they jump.
Narrogin species are generally tiny and drab, but make up for this with their interesting behaviour. Myrmarachne species are ant mimics/ant hunters. They tend to wave their front legs in the air to simulate antennae, and many have bodies that also closely resemble ants.
Narrogin species are generally tiny and drab, but make up for this with their interesting behaviour. Myrmarachne species are ant mimics/ant hunters. They tend to wave their front legs in the air to simulate antennae, and many have bodies that also closely resemble ants.
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| Jumping spiders generally rest and produce their eggs in a small webbed sac in the leaf litter and under bark. In some species the male matures faster than the female and at maturity searches for a prepubescent female. After finding one he builds her a shelter web and guards her other males until she is ready to mate. |  Very gravid (pregnant) female at edge of shelter web |
Each autumn I see Euryattus species spindle shaped egg sacs on rock sheoak needles. The female apparently guards the egg web for a month until the spiderlings hatch, then dies. last year I watched a female patiently sitting on or adjacent tto her egg. Unfortunately she disappeared after three weeks after heavy rain and I never saw any spiderlings.
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This video shows her waggling her cute little bum as she renovates her egg web
