''Phidippus otiosus'' is a species of

jumping spider Jumping spiders are a group of spiders that constitute the family (biology), 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 sp ...

that is found in southeastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. It is primarily a tree-living species. Females reach a body length of about 16 mm. Its iridescent chelicerae can range in color from purple to green.

Life cycle

Females position their single egg sac under the bark of

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

and

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...

trees. These are laid from December to February in South Carolina, and from January to June in Florida. The egg sac can hold anywhere from 19-150 eggs, and the spiderlings (slings) will disperse between January and February. The spiderlings mature during fall.

Systematics

''Phidippus otiosus'' is grouped with the closely related species '' P. californicus'', '' P. pius'' and '' P. regius'' in the ''otiosus'' group.

Distribution

''Phidippus otiosus'' naturally occurs in the southeastern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

from

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. However, this species is sometimes exported with plants such as ''

Tillandsia ''Tillandsia'' is a genus of around 650 species of evergreen, perennial flowering plants in the family Bromeliaceae, native to the forests, mountains and deserts of northern Mexico and south-eastern United States, Mesoamerica and the Caribbean to ...

'', and has been found in countries as remote as

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Salticidae.org
''P. otiosus'' from Sweden
/ref> and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Name

The species name is possibly derived from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''otium'' "leisure, peace, quiet" + the suffix ''-osus'' "full of, prone to", or from

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

''oto-'' "ear", referring to the tufts of black hair. A common name for this species is Canopy Jumping Spider.

Footnotes

References

* (1988): Reproductive Periods of ''Phidippus'' Species (Araneae, Salticidae) in South Carolina. ''Journal of Arachnology'' 16(1): 95-101
PDF
* (2004): Revision of the jumping spiders of the genus ''Phidippus'' (Araneae: Salticidae). ''Occasional Papers of the Florida State Collection of Arthropoda''. * (2008)

version 8.5. ''American Museum of Natural History''.

External links

* Salticidae.org

* Salticidae.org

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1313613 Salticidae Fauna of the Southeastern United States Spiders of the United States Spiders described in 1846 Taxa named by Nicholas Marcellus Hentz