''Salticus'' (from Latin “''saltus''” – leap or jump) is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of the family

Salticidae Jumping spiders are a group of spiders that constitute the family Salticidae. As of 2019, this family contained over 600 described genera and over 6,000 described species, making it the largest family of spiders at 13% of all species. Jumping spi ...

(the jumping spiders). ''Salticus'' is the type genus for the family Salticidae.

Description

Coloration is determined by various scales (modified

setae In biology, setae (singular seta ; from the Latin word for " bristle") are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Annelid setae are stiff bristles present on the body. ...

) covering a brown or black integument. Narrow scales (or hairs) may be black or red/rust colored, while broad scales are either iridescent (often magenta or green) or opaque granular white or yellow. Salticus palpalis male

Several common species have a dorsal pattern of black narrow scales and white granular scales arranged in transverse stripes, especially on the

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the to ...

, from which the common name “zebra spiders” originates, e.g. Holarctic ''

Salticus scenicus The zebra jumping spider (''Salticus scenicus'') is a common jumping spider of the Northern Hemisphere. Their common name refers to their vivid black-and-white colouration, whilst their scientific name derives from ''Salticus'' from the Latin fo ...

'' (Clerck, 1757). Some ''Salticus'' species in the Southwestern US and Mexico have red and white transverse stripes on the abdomen, e.g. ''Salticus palpalis'' (Banks, 1904). Some lack the “zebra” stripes completely and have both dorsal abdomen and cephalothorax covered with iridescent scales, e.g. '' Salticus peckhamae'' (Cockerell, 1897). Since the dorsal coloration does not seem to be involved in the male’s courtship display the coloration may have been selected for camouflage or mimicry. For example, there is a strong similarity between ''S. palpalis'' and '' Agapostemon'' sweat bees. ''Salticus'' species range in length from 3-7 mm. Males are smaller than females, but have elongated

chelicerae The chelicerae () are the mouthparts of the subphylum Chelicerata, an arthropod group that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. Commonly referred to as " jaws", chelicerae may be shaped as either articulated fangs, or similarl ...

and

pedipalps Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the second pair of appendages of chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to the chelicerae ("jaws") and ...

Habits

Like most Salticidae, they prefer open, sunny habitats They are often found on vertical surfaces including man-made structures such as walls and fences or natural such as tree trunks. They are commonly found near water, where they feast on emergent aquatic gnats and other insects. One study recorded dipterans as 70% of prey item

''Salticus'' species have been observed preying on insects several times their body size.

Distribution

This genus has at least one species recorded from every continent except Antarctica. One common species, ''S. scenicus'', is a widely distributed

Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical reg ...

species associated with human habitations. ''S. scenicus'' has the second most jumping spider observations on

iNaturalist iNaturalist is a social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists built on the concept of mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity across the globe. iNaturalist may be accessed via its website or from its mobile applic ...

. Most other ''Salticus'' species have a more restricted distribution. Two areas with high species diversity are the Southwestern portion of the United States (into Mexico) and the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

. Four species have been recorded from the Canary Islands

Species

, the

World Spider Catalog The World Spider Catalog (WSC) is an online searchable database concerned with spider taxonomy. It aims to list all accepted families, genera and species, as well as provide access to the related taxonomic literature. The WSC began as a series of ...

accepted these species: *''

Salticus afghanicus ''Salticus'' (from Latin “''saltus''” – leap or jump) is a genus of the family Salticidae (the jumping spiders). ''Salticus'' is the type genus for the family Salticidae. Description Coloration is determined by various scales (modified se ...

'' Logunov & Zamanpoore, 2005 – Afghanistan *''

Salticus aiderensis ''Salticus'' (from Latin “''saltus''” – leap or jump) is a genus of the family Salticidae (the jumping spiders). ''Salticus'' is the type genus for the family Salticidae. Description Coloration is determined by various scales (modified se ...

'' Logunov & Rakov, 1998 – Turkmenistan *''

Salticus alegranzaensis ''Salticus'' (from Latin “''saltus''” – leap or jump) is a genus of the family Salticidae (the jumping spiders). ''Salticus'' is the type genus for the family Salticidae. Description Coloration is determined by various scales (modified se ...

'' Wunderlich, 1995 – Canary Is. *''

Salticus annulatus ''Salticus'' (from Latin “''saltus''” – leap or jump) is a genus of the family Salticidae (the jumping spiders). ''Salticus'' is the type genus for the family Salticidae. Description Coloration is determined by various scales (modified se ...

'' (Giebel, 1870) – South Africa *''

Salticus austinensis ''Salticus austinensis'', the zebra spider, is a species of jumping spider. It is found in the United States, Mexico, and Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are def ...

'' Gertsch, 1936 – United States, Mexico, Central America *''

Salticus beneficus ''Salticus'' (from Latin “''saltus''” – leap or jump) is a genus of the family Salticidae (the jumping spiders). ''Salticus'' is the type genus for the family Salticidae. Description Coloration is determined by various scales (modified se ...

'' (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1885) – China (Yarkand) *''

Salticus bonaerensis ''Salticus'' (from Latin “''saltus''” – leap or jump) is a genus of the family Salticidae (the jumping spiders). ''Salticus'' is the type genus for the family Salticidae. Description Coloration is determined by various scales (modified se ...

'' Holmberg, 1876 – Argentina *'' Salticus brasiliensis'' Lucas, 1833 – Brazil *'' Salticus canariensis'' Wunderlich, 1987 – Canary Is. *'' Salticus cingulatus'' (Panzer, 1797) – Europe, Turkey, Iran, Russia (Europe to Far East), Kazakhstan, Mongolia *'' Salticus confusus'' Lucas, 1846 – Portugal, Spain, France (Corsica), Bulgaria, Greece (Crete), Algeria *'' Salticus conjonctus'' (Simon, 1868) – France, Italy *'' Salticus coronatus'' (Camboué, 1887) – Madagascar *'' Salticus devotus'' (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1885) – China (Yarkand) *'' Salticus dzhungaricus'' Logunov, 1992 – Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan *'' Salticus falcarius'' (Hentz, 1846) – United States *'' Salticus flavicruris'' (Rainbow, 1897) – Australia (New South Wales) *'' Salticus gomerensis'' Wunderlich, 1987 – Canary Is. *'' Salticus insperatus'' Logunov, 2009 – Iran *'' Salticus iteacus'' Metzner, 1999 – Greece *'' Salticus jugularis'' Simon, 1900 – Australia (Queensland) *'' Salticus karakumensis'' Logunov & Ponomarev, 2020 – Turkmenistan *'' Salticus kraali'' (Thorell, 1878) – Indonesia (Ambon) *'' Salticus latidentatus'' Roewer, 1951 – Russia (South Siberia, Far East), Mongolia, China, Japan *'' Salticus lucasi'' Zamani, Hosseini & Moradmand, 2020 – Iran *'' Salticus major'' (Simon, 1868) – Portugal, Spain, France *'' Salticus mandibularis'' (Simon, 1868) – Greece *'' Salticus meticulosus'' Lucas, 1846 – Algeria *'' Salticus modicus'' (Simon, 1875) – France *'' Salticus mutabilis'' Lucas, 1846 – Europe, Savage Is., Azores, Morocco, Egypt, Georgia, Argentina *'' Salticus noordami'' Metzner, 1999 – Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Israel, Iran *'' Salticus olivaceus'' (L. Koch, 1867) – Spain to Israel *'' Salticus palpalis'' (Banks, 1904) – United States, Mexico *'' Salticus paludivagus'' Lucas, 1846 – Algeria *'' Salticus peckhamae'' (Cockerell, 1897) – United States *'' Salticus perogaster'' (Thorell, 1881) – Papua New Guinea (Yule Is.) *'' Salticus propinquus'' Lucas, 1846 – Mediterranean *'' Salticus proszynskii'' Logunov, 1992 – Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan *'' Salticus quagga'' Miller, 1971 – Hungary, Slovakia *'' Salticus ravus'' (Bösenberg, 1895) – Canary Is. *'' Salticus ressli'' Logunov, 2015 – Turkey *''

'' (Clerck, 1757) (

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

) – North America, Europe, Russia (Europe to Far East), Caucasus, Kazakhstan, Iran *'' Salticus scitulus'' (Simon, 1868) – France (Corsica) *'' Salticus tricinctus'' (C. L. Koch, 1846) – Mediterranean to Central Asia, Afghanistan *'' Salticus truncatus'' Simon, 1937 – France *'' Salticus turkmenicus'' Logunov & Rakov, 1998 – Turkmenistan *'' Salticus unciger'' (Simon, 1868) – Southern Europe *'' Salticus unicolor'' (Simon, 1868) – Greece (Corfu) *'' Salticus zebraneus'' (C. L. Koch, 1837) – Europe, Turkey, Russia (Europe, Caucasus), Iran

References

External links