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 spiders have some of the best vision among arthropods and use it in courtship, hunting, and navigation. Although they normally move unobtrusively and fairly slowly, most species are capable of very agile jumps, notably when hunting, but sometimes in response to sudden threats or crossing long gaps. Both their book lungs and tracheal system are well-developed, and they use both systems. Jumping spiders are generally recognized by their eye pattern. All jumping spiders have four pairs of eyes, with the anterior median pair being particularly large.
Myrmarachne is a genus of ant-mimicking jumping spiders that was first described by W. S. MacLeay in 1839. They are commonly called ant-mimicking spiders, but they are not the only spiders that have this attribute. The name is a combination of Ancient Greek μύρμηξ, meaning "ant", and ἀράχνη, meaning "spider".
Ant mimicry or myrmecomorphy is mimicry of ants by other organisms; it has evolved over 70 times. Ants are abundant all over the world, and potential predators that rely on vision to identify their prey, such as birds and wasps, normally avoid them, because they are either unpalatable or aggressive. Some arthropods mimic ants to escape predation, while some predators of ants, especially spiders, mimic them anatomically and behaviourally in aggressive mimicry. Ant mimicry has existed almost as long as ants themselves; the earliest ant mimics in the fossil record appear in the mid-Cretaceous alongside the earliest ants.
Portia labiata is a jumping spider found in Sri Lanka, India, southern China, Burma (Myanmar), Malaysia, Singapore, Java, Sumatra and the Philippines. In this medium-sized jumping spider, the front part is orange-brown and the back part is brownish. The conspicuous main eyes provide vision more acute than a cat's during the day and 10 times more acute than a dragonfly's, and this is essential in P. labiata′s navigation, hunting and mating.
Onomastus is a genus of Asian jumping spiders that was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1900. It is the only genus in the subfamily Onomastinae.
Panachraesta is a monotypic genus of Sri Lankan jumping spiders containing the single species, Panachraesta paludosa. It was first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1900, and is only found in Sri Lanka. Until 2016, it was a synonym of Myrmarachne.
Myrmaplata plataleoides, also called the red weaver-ant mimicking jumper, is a jumping spider that mimics the Asian weaver ant in morphology and behaviour. This species is found in India, Sri Lanka, China and many parts of Southeast Asia.
The wildlife of Sri Lanka includes its flora and fauna and their natural habitats. Sri Lanka has one of the highest rates of biological endemism.
Myrmarachne melanotarsa, the dark-footed ant-spider, is an African jumping spider found around Lake Victoria in Africa. Like other spiders in the genus Myrmarachne, these spiders mimic ants, in this case, ants of the genus Crematogaster. However, they are unusual in that they exhibit some form of social behavior, forming clusters of silk nests on fig and other trees. Hundreds of these spiders, of both sexes and of all ages, can be found in such communal nests, but most nests have between 10 and 50 spiders. The Crematogaster ants which they mimic are often found in the nests with the spiders, along with other species of jumping spider.
Portia fimbriata, sometimes called the fringed jumping spider, is a jumping spider found in Australia and Southeast Asia. Adult females have bodies 6.8 to 10.5 millimetres long, while those of adult males are 5.2 to 6.5 millimetres long. Both sexes have a generally dark brown carapace, reddish brown chelicerae ("fangs"), a brown underside, dark brown palps with white hairs, and dark brown abdomens with white spots on the upper side. Both sexes have fine, faint markings and soft fringes of hair, and the legs are spindly and fringed. However, specimens from New Guinea and Indonesia have orange-brown carapaces and yellowish abdomens. In all species of the genus Portia, the abdomen distends when the spider is well fed or producing eggs.
Myrmarachne exasperans is a species of jumping spider found in southeast Asia. The species which was originally described in Java has also been recorded in Borneo, Palawan (Philippines) Vietnam and Bali, where the largest number of individuals have been recorded.
Myrmarachne uniseriata is a species of spider of the family Salticidae. It is native to India and Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, the species was found in the Ethagala range of Kurunegala District. The species can easily identified by the reddish orange-coloured carapace and dorsally flat chelicerae of male.
Myrmage dishani is a species of spiders of the genus Myrmage. It is endemic to Sri Lanka. The species was first found from Eastern part of Sinharaja Forest Reserve. The species can easily identified by the round opisthosoma, without any visible, constrict. However, the species is much similar to Myrmage imbellissyn.: Myrmarachne imbellis.
Myrmarachne morningside, is a species of spider of the genus Myrmarachne. It is endemic to Sri Lanka. The species was first found from Eastern part of morningside section of Sinharaja Forest Reserve. The species can easily identified by mostly shiny surfaces on distal parts of prosoma. The species is sometimes confused with Myrmarachne spissa, only can be carefully separated from a disk-shaped tegulum.
Hermosa is a genus of jumping spiders first described by G. W. Peckham and E. G. Peckham in 1892, and synonymized with Myrmarachne in 1901. In 2016, Jerzy Prószyński split up Myrmarachne, creating nine new genera, all with names beginning "Myrm". However, it turned out that Myrmavola volatilis, the type species of Myrmavola, was also the type species of Hermosa, and Myrmavola was made a junior synonym. It is part of the Myrmarachnini tribe within the Salticoida clade of Salticinae.
Locomotor mimicry is a subtype of Batesian mimicry in which animals avoid predation by mimicking the movements of another species phylogenetically separated. This can be in the form of mimicking a less desirable species or by mimicking the predator itself. Animals can show similarity in swimming, walking, or flying of their model animals.
Bavirecta is a genus of Asian jumping spiders first described by N. Kanesharatnam & Suresh P. Benjamin in 2018. As of April 2019 it contains only two species. It was placed in the tribe Baviini, part of the clade Salticoida of the subfamily Salticinae.
Colopsus is a genus of Asian jumping spiders first described by Eugène Louis Simon in 1902. It was synonymized with Evarcha in 1984, but the name was revalidated in 2021. It is a senior synonym of Cheliceroides.
