Tag: SALTICIDAE

Jumping spiders. This family is the largest of all spider families in amount of genera and species. They are iconic for their huge eyes and ability to jump, often being found in homes and cars as well as outdoors. They are very effective at insect pest control being free-roaming hunters, and are among the most intelligent of spiders with the best eyesight. They are small to medium sized spiders and are medically insignificant to humans.

HELIOPHANUS DEBILIS

HELIOPHANUS DEBILIS

by anikekirsten
Adult female H. debilis

Taxon:

  • Class: Arachnida
  • Order: Araneae
  • Infra-Order: Araneamorph (true spiders)
  • Family: Salticidae
  • Genus: Heliophanus
  • Species: H. debilis

Female

Around 5mm in body length. Leg span of approximately 8mm diagonally.

Cephalothorax:
Carapace sandy brown with white clypeus. Dark chelicera. Sternum oval and greenish yellow. Pedipalps light and hairy.

Abdomen:
Abdomen large oval and tapered, sandy brown. Dorsal with faint light line down centre, faint stripes on sides, and 4 small dark spots posterior with dark spinnerets. Ventral plain with tiny dark spot on epigyne.

Legs:
Sandy brown legs with darkened tarsi.

Male

Unknown.

ABOUT THE GENUS

Spiders in this genus can grow to be comparatively large for a jumping spider, though still are small spiders as a whole. They are also one of the more commonly encountered genera of jumping spider in Orania thus far, with the most species variation in the area as well.

Like most jumping spider genera, the Heliophanus species consist of a dull-coloured female, often larger, and a more vividly coloured male, often smaller especially in the size of the abdomen.

PELLENES MODICUS

PELLENES MODICUS

by anikekirsten
Adult male P. modicus

Taxon:

  • Class: Arachnida
  • Order: Araneae
  • Infra-Order: Araneamorph (true spiders)
  • Family: Salticidae
  • Genus: Pellenes
  • Species: P. modicus

Female

Unknown.

Male

Around 6mm in body length. Leg span of approximately 12mm diagonally.

Cephalothorax:
Carapace greyish light brown, lighter posterior with faint dark line in centre, thin black line on margins. Dark line from posterior lateral eyes to anterior, darkening at “face”. Anterior median eyes with red ring. Clypeus high and white. Chelicera dark with white stripes. Sternum oval and light grey. Pedipalps whitish, slightly darkened and swollen tarsi.

Abdomen:
Abdomen small, tapered oval. Dorsal light brown with dark leaf-like pattern and light pattern within, centre from anterior to posterior, light stripes down either side. Ventral pale and mottled.

Legs:
First leg pair noticeably longer, darker, and thicker, thin white hair ventral from femur to metatarsi, dark inner femora. Legs light brown, faintly mottled. 1, 3, 4, 2.

Adult male P. modicus
Adult male P. modicus

ABOUT THE GENUS

The spiders of this genus are one of the few jumping spiders that don’t show a stark difference between males and females, also known as sexual dimorphism. Another interesting feature of these spiders is the many fine setae on their first leg pair in both sexes. Not much is known about the South African species and the genus in Africa is poorly studied.

NATTA HORIZONTALIS

NATTA HORIZONTALIS

by anikekirsten
Adult female N. horizontalis

Taxon:

  • Class: Arachnida
  • Order: Araneae
  • Infra-Order: Araneamorph (true spiders)
  • Family: Salticidae
  • Genus: Natta
  • Species: N. horizontalis

Female

Around 10mm in body length. Leg span of approximately 13mm diagonally.

Cephalothorax:
Carapace raised in cephalic region, reddish brown and darker along sides with white line on margins. White stripes across ocular region and clypeus. Chelicera reddish. Pedipalps brown with white bands, tarsi white. Sternum oval, light grey with dark spot in centre.

Abdomen:
Abdomen large and tapered, dorsal dark with tear-drop shape marking of reddish white and black spots encompassing darker tear-shape inside and point ending in white spot near spinerettes. Ventral light, silverish with white border, epigyne with dark spot.

Legs:
First leg pair thickest, dark reddish with faint white bands on joints. Other legs reddish. 4, 1, 3, 2.

Male

Unknown.

Adult female N. horizontalis

ABOUT THE GENUS

Natta spiders are ant-eaters by preference1, which is rare for jumping spiders and often only seen in ant-mimicking species. The males are more convincing as ant-mimics though the females also sport the bulkier forelegs and the antennae-like behaviour in moving them around. There are only two species in this genus, both of which are found in South Africa.

HELIOPHANUS HASTATUS

HELIOPHANUS HASTATUS

by anikekirsten
Adult male H. hastatus

Taxon:

  • Class: Arachnida
  • Order: Araneae
  • Infra-Order: Araneamorph (true spiders)
  • Family: Salticidae
  • Genus: Heliophanus
  • Species: H. hastatus

Female

Around 5mm in body length. Leg span of approximately 7mm diagonally.

Cephalothorax:
Carapace dark with light cephalic region, posterior edge, and lateral margins. Sternum shield-shape, greenish yellow with faintly lighter borders. Chelicera reddish brown, long. Pedipalps sandy and tarsi slightly tear-drop shaped.

Abdomen:
Abdomen sandy brown with lighter margins and light patch anterior dorsal centre followed by darker paired patches down centre to darker spinnerets. Venter yellow and plain, epigyne with small dark spot in centre.

Legs:
Sandy brown and faintly banded with slightly darker tarsi. 4, 1, 2, 3.

Male

Around 3mm in body length. Leg span of approximately 5mm diagonally.

Cephalothorax:
Carapace dark with thick cream line down centre extending from anterior median eyes and tapering, thin white line either side of carapace border. Cephalic region raised. Clypeus, chelicera, and eye region dark. Pedipalps dark with slightly swollen tarsi. Sternum oval and dark, mouthparts dark.

Abdomen:
Abdomen small and sharply tapering, dark with thick white dorsal median line and thin white line on either side. Ventral dirty whitish with dark epigastric furrow and spinnerets.

Legs:
Creamish colour, short, black tarsi. 1st leg pair longer and slightly more robust.

Adult female H. hastatus
Adult male H. hastatus

ABOUT THE GENUS

Sun jumping spiders, the genus Heliophanus, are among the most commonly encountered of the jumping spiders and more well known. This genus is also one of the largest and most diverse in species of the Saliticids, and the largest in South Africa with 44 of the 170 described species. Hastsus in Latin means “to haste”, likely due to this species being incredibly fast and skittish and difficult to photograph.

HELIOPHANUS PISTACIAE

HELIOPHANUS PISTACIAE

by anikekirsten
Adult female H. pistaciae

Taxon:

  • Class: Arachnida
  • Order: Araneae
  • Infra-Order: Araneamorph (true spiders)
  • Family: Salticidae
  • Genus: Heliophanus
  • Species: H. pistaciae

Female

Around 5mm in body length. Leg span of approximately 7mm diagonally.

Cephalothorax:
Cephalic region slightly raised. Carapace greyish light brown with light band across area behind anterior median eyes and white line under. Faint white line on edges of carapace with brown line above each. Chelicera and sternum dark, sternum oval. Pedipalps light in colour.

Abdomen:
Long and wide abdomen, light brown with light band across dorsal anterior stretching to posterior and light leaf pattern dorsal centre. Spinnerets dark. Ventral light with dark epigyn.

Legs:
Legs short and light in colour with dark tarsi. 4th pair longest, others subequal.

Male

Around 5mm in body length. Leg span of approximately 7mm diagonally.

Cephalothorax:
Black carapace with white line posterior centre ending at fovea with small patch, and white lines on posterior margins. Chelicera and pedipalps black, palps with slightly swollen tarsi. Sternum oval and black.

Abdomen:
Abdomen thin, dorsally black with white line down centre, and across anterior wrapping along sides to posterior. Venter pale with dark epigastric furrow and spinnerets.

Legs:
Legs pale yellow. 4, 1, 2, 3.

Adult male H. pistaciae
Adult female H. pistaciae

ABOUT THE GENUS

This genus is iconic for the light band that runs across the anterior dorsal abdomen, sometimes through to the posterior. Due to this marking, the genus was given its name. Heliophanus roughly meaning “sun cloth” and thus are commonly known as sun jumping spiders. They are mostly found in Africa, though some occur in Eurasia. They tend to be small spiders, averaging at around 5mm in body length. The males tend to be black in colour with an almost metallic shine, while the females are brown and dull as seen in H. pistaciae.

ICIUS INSOLIDUS

ICIUS INSOLIDUS

by anikekirsten
Adult male I. insolidus

Taxon:

  • Class: Arachnida
  • Order: Araneae
  • Infra-Order: Araneamorph (true spiders)
  • Family: Salticidae
  • Genus: Icius
  • Species: I. insolidus

Female

Similar to male, markings less vibrant, abdomen larger and pedipalps unmodified.

Male

Around 4mm in body length. Leg span of approximately 7mm diagonally.

Cephalothorax:
Dark brown carapace with cream stripe down centre and cream marking on either side of cephalic region by anterior lateral eyes. Cream band running across anterior carapace in line with two large front eyes like a mask. Cephalic region smooth and shiny. Sternum grey with thin dark stripe in centre.

Abdomen:
Abdomen two brown stripes on dorsal side in parallel with cream coloured “leafy” marking in centre. Spinnerets black. Ventral abdomen greyish-brown with dark V marking and dark stripe marking centre inside.

Legs:
Brown legs with dark bands. Palps dark brown with white setae.

Adult female I. insolidus
Adult male I. insolidus

ABOUT THE GENUS

Icius spiders are often encountered in areas that are hot, usually running about on all manner of surfaces, such as walls, as they hunt for prey. They are small spider, known as the striking jumping spider, and are a cosmopolitan genus. They’re easily identified by the thick band that has irregular borders in the centre of their dorsal abdomen. Icius jumping spiders come in a variety of colours, from black through to red and yellow.

HYLLUS DOTATUS

HYLLUS DOTATUS

by anikekirsten
Adult male H. dotatus

Taxon:

  • Class: Arachnida
  • Order: Araneae
  • Infra-Order: Araneamorph (true spiders)
  • Family: Salticidae
  • Genus: Hyllus
  • Species: H. dotatus

Female

Unknown.

Male

Around 7mm in body length. Leg span of approximately 12mm diagonally.

Cephalothorax:
Carapace reddish brown with cream bands down either side, black posteriorly and behind ocular area. White stripes in centre and to either side behind eyes, and across “face”. “Eyelash” beside anterior lateral eyes. Sternum round and whitish with reddish brown dot in centre. Chelicera mottled and hairy. Pedipalps mottled and hairy, swollen on tarsi.

Abdomen:
Dorsal abdomen reddish brown with cream stripe down middle connected to cream band across anterior. Ventral abdomen reddish on sides, and cream with thin dark line down centre.

Legs:
Femur black, 3rd and 4th pair whit blotch dorsally. Cream patella. Brown tibia with dorsal cream spot and cream band on metatarsal and tarsal joints. 1st leg pair more black, longer, and thicker.

Adult male H. dotatus
Adult male H. dotatus

ABOUT THE GENUS

Hyllus is a genus that is home to the largest jumping spiders, including second-largest H. treleaveni that is found in South Africa. These spiders are stocky and heavy, and iconically have striped faces with “eyelashes” on either side of the cephalic region. They also tend to be much hairier than most other jumping spiders. The genus is named after the son of Heracles, from Greek mythology. These spiders appear to regularly indulge in consuming other spiders, including other jumping spiders, in an act called araneophagy.