Jumping+Spider-+Jevon

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//**__ JUMPING SPIDER __**//
 * [[image:4gminibeasts/jumpinspiderpicture.jpg width="230" height="94"]] ||

//__ Introduction __// // The Jumping spiders are among the easiest to distinguish from similar spider families because of the shape of the cephalothoraxes’ and their eye patterns. The jumping spiders family, Salticidae, comprise the largest of all spider groups, with over 5,000 species worldwide. //

// They are extremely deadly, though generally small in size; their large eyes, prodigious jumping ability, often brilliant colours and cocky, inquisitive activity make them very appealing. //

// Many are daylight hunters, using their excellent vision to track, stalk and calculate distance, before suddenly leaping on their prey, propelled by their strong back legs. //

// 3mm - 12 mm // //** Distribution **// // Australia-wide. // //** Habitat **// // Jumping spiders are diurnal and on sunny days they can usually be found on all types of vegetation. They are found in a variety of habitats. // //** Feeding Habit **// // arthropod-feeder // ||
 * //** Size range **//



//Males are often more strikingly coloured, patterned or adorned with leg or body hair tufts than females. They use these adornments to impress the females during often elaborate courtship displays.// //No group illustrates this better than the southern Australia jumpers of the genus Maratus (= Saitis). Its members could justifiably be called peacock spiders, both for the bright colours of the males and the way that they display them.// //Males have flap-like lateral extensions of the abdomen that fold down along each side and are edged by white hairs. When a red, blue and black coloured male of Maratus volans courts his relatively nondescript mate, he expands and raises the lateral flaps so that the abdomen forms a white-fringed, circular field of colour which is tilted up towards the female above the brightly coloured carapace, a truly// ||
 * ===//Other behaviors and adaptations//===

//**__ Anatomy __**// // The **cephalothoraxes’** is a [|tagma] of various [|arthropods], comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the [|abdomen] behindthis spider which has excellent vision. It has cephalothoraxes; it has anterior lateral eyes on the side of its head so that it can see further. It has brilliant eye sight up to 11 metres. //



// The spinnerets are shown in red. These are the silk-producing appendages. Jumping spiders, although they do not usually use silk to catch prey, use silk for other purposes (draglines, nest making). //

// The anterior body part is the prosoma or cephalothoraxes. It is covered above by a shell or carapace: //

// Belonging to the prosoma are the main appendages: //

// Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window //

// In this diagram the chelicerae (jaws with fangs) are shown in red, the in green, and the legs in blue. //

//**__ Habitat __**// // You can find these spiders in tropical forests, temperate forests, scrub lands, deserts, intertidal zones and mountains they stay in their silk tent in the winter and bad weather. //



jumping spider in sack
//**__ Feeding and predators __**// // The jumping spider eats spider eggs, insects and other spiders. Tranchular spiders. The Black Wolf Spiders eats the Jumping spider. //

//**__ Food chain __**//

jumping spider





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//**__ The life cycle __**// // Young jumping spiders emerge from the egg sac looking like tiny versions of their parents. They molt and grow into adulthood. A female jumping spider builds a silk case around her eggs. She will often stand guard over them until they hatch. When they hatch, the mother carries them around. When the spiderlings grow into adults then they are left alone. //

//**__ Did you know? __**// // As the common name suggests, a jumping spider can jump quite well, achieving distances over 50 times its body length. // // Jumping spiders hunt and feed on small insects. All are carnivorous, but a few species also eat some pollen and nectar. // // Prior to jumping, the spider will attach a silk thread to the surface beneath it, so it can climb quickly back to its perch if needed. //

// This information on the Jumping Spider was written by //

//Jevon Harrison//