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

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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. Th ...

) 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 torso. ...

, 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 The cephalothorax, also called prosoma in some groups, is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. (The terms ''prosoma'' and ''opisthosoma'' are equivalent to ''cepha ...

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 In evolutionary biology, mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. Often, mimicry f ...

. For example, there is a strong similarity between ''S. palpalis'' and ''

Agapostemon The genus ''Agapostemon'' (literally "stamen loving") is a common group of Western Hemisphere sweat bees, most of which are known as ''metallic green sweat bees'' for their color. They are members of the family of bees known as Halictidae. Like ...

'' 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 similarly ...

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 A gnat () is any of many species of tiny flying insects in the dipterid suborder Nematocera, especially those in the families Mycetophilidae, Anisopodidae and Sciaridae. They can be both biting and non-biting. Most often they fly in large num ...

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 region ...

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 and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

. Four species have been recorded from the Canary Islands

Species

, the World Spider Catalog accepted these species: *''Salticus afghanicus'' Logunov & Zamanpoore, 2005 – Afghanistan *''Salticus aiderensis'' Logunov & Rakov, 1998 – Turkmenistan *''Salticus alegranzaensis'' Wunderlich, 1995 – Canary Is. *''Salticus annulatus'' (Giebel, 1870) – South Africa *''Salticus austinensis'' Gertsch, 1936 – United States, Mexico, Central America *''Salticus beneficus'' (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1885) – China (Yarkand) *''Salticus bonaerensis'' 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 *''Salticus scenicus'' (Clerck, 1757) (type species) – 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