''Saitis barbipes'' is a common

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 ...

(family Salticidae) found in 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 ...

region.

Etymology

The species name ''barbipes'' is derived from Latin, and means "bearded foot".

Taxonomy

The species ''Saitis barbipes'' was described by the French naturalist Eugène Simon in 1868, under the name of ''Attus barbipes''. It was placed in 1876 by Eugène Simon in the genus ''Saitis'' of which it constitutes the type species. The Australian "peacock spider", ''

Maratus volans ''Maratus volans'' is a species in the jumping spider family (Salticidae), belonging to the genus '' Maratus'' (peacock spiders). These spiders are native to certain areas in Australia and occupy a wide distribution of habitats. They have a spec ...

'', has a range of superficial similarities to the species, such as green eyes, and an enlarged third pair of legs used for courtship. Recent work suggests that ''Saitis'' and ''

Maratus ''Maratus'' is a spider genus of the family Salticidae (jumping spiders). These spiders are commonly referred to as peacock spiders due to the males' colorful and usually iridescent patterns on the upper surface of the abdomen often enhanced with ...

'' are closely related genera.

Distribution

This species is present in the

region, from southern

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

(

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

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 ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

) to

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

and in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

Habitat

These

s can be found on houses and rocks, as well as indoors.

Description

''Saitis barbipes'' is characterized by a significant

Sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

. Males can reach a body length of , while females measure . Jerzy Prószyńsk
Monograph of the Salticidae (Araneae) of the World 1995-2015 - Part II - Global Species Database of Salticidae (Araneae)
/ref> The female shows a less evident coloration, with a dull brown body, a dark or blackish eyes field and pale brown legs with almost no drawing. On the contrary the smaller male is strikingly colored, especially when frontally viewed. It has bright emerald green eyes, the four white frontal legs are densely haired and regularly interspersed by black stripes and there is a red band above the eyes, which extends on the sides to the rear pair of eyes. The cephalothorax (

prosoma 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 ...

) usually is pale brown and rather hairy above the eyes. The abdomen (opisthosoma) is provided on the upper side with a laterally dark bordered longitudinal band. ''Saitis barbipes'' is probably the most colorful species of jumping spiders in Europe. The most impressive feature however is the greatly enlarged third pair of legs. These are longer and colored red near the body, fading into black, with white tufts at the end.

Behavior

Thanks to the long third pair of legs these spiders can jump at great distances. These legs are also used in courtship display. When the male spots a female, he raises vertically the third pair of legs. As he approaches her, from time to time he audibly vibrates them. A receptive female will then collapse on her legs and turn her abdomen ventral side upward. Sexually mature animals can be found year-round. Oliver H. Wearing, Daniela Delneri and R. Tucker Gilma
Limb Displays of Male Saitis barbipes (Simon, 1868) (Araneae: Salticidae)

Gallery

File:Saitis barbipes MHNT Male Face2.jpg, Male, front view File: Saitis barbipes MHNT Male Profil.jpg, Male, side view File: Saitis barbipes MHNT Male dos.jpg, Male, top view File: Saitis barbipes MHNT Male Face inferieure.jpg, Male, bottom view

Bibliography

*Blagoev G., Deltshev C.D., Lazarov S. (2002) The Spiders (Araneae) of Bulgaria *Blick, Bosmans R., Buchar J., Gajdoa P., Hänggi A., Helsdingen P. Van , Rulicka V., Starega W., Thaler K. (2004) Checklist of the spiders of Central Europe *Flanczewska E. (1981) Remarks on Salticidae (Aranei) of Bulgaria, Annales zoologici, Warszawa: 221 *Fuhn I. E., Gherasim V. (1995) Familia Salticidae. Fauna Romaniei, Arachnida, Acad. Roman., Bucuresti: 107, *Hansen H. (1986) Die Salticidae der coll. Canestrini (Arachnida: Araneae), Boll. Soc. veneziana Stor. nat.: 112 *Kulczynski W. (1905a) Araneae nonnullae in insulis Maderianis collectae a Rev. E. Schmitz, - Bulletin international de l'Académie des sciences de Cracovie (sci. mathématiques et naturelles), Kraków *Logunov D.V. (2004b) Notes on the collection of Salticidae (Araneae) from the Museum of Natural History 'Enrico Gaffi' in Bergamo, Italy, '' Revista Ibérica de Aracnología'': p. 274, illustrations 5-6 *Pesarini C. (1997) I ragni (Arachnida Araneae) del Monte Barro (Italia, Lombardia, Lecco), Mem. Soc. ital. Sci. nat. Museo civ. Stor. nat. Milano *Prószynski J. (2003b) Salticidae (Aranae) of the World. Ver. 1995-2006 *Simon E. (1876) Les Arachnides de France. Tome 3., 169 *Simon E. (1901a) Histoire Naturelle des Araignees *Simon E. (1937) Les Arachnides de France. Tome VI. *Trotta A. (2005) Introduzione ai Ragni italiani (Arachnida Araneae), Memorie della Societa entomologica italiana, Genova

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q310827 Spiders described in 1868 barbipes