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. 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. Spiders are the most common ant mimics. Additionally, some arthropods mimic ants to escape predation, while others mimic ants anatomically and behaviourally to hunt ants 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. Indeed one of the earliest, Burmomyrma, was initially classified as an ant.
Phidippus audax, the bold jumper or bold jumping spider, is a common species of spider belonging to the genus Phidippus, a group of jumping spiders easily identified by their large eyes and their iridescent chelicerae. Like all jumping spiders, they have excellent stereoscopic vision that aids them in stalking prey and facilitates visual communication with potential mates during courting. Bold jumping spiders are native to North America and have been introduced to Hawaii, Nicobar Islands, Azores, and the Netherlands. They are typically black with a distinct white triangle on their abdomen.
Agorius is a genus of spiders in the family Salticidae. The genera Agorius and Synagelides are separated as a genus group, sometimes called subfamily Agoriinae but more recently downranked to tribe Agoriini of the Salticoida clade in subfamily Salticinae.
Bocus is a genus of Southeast Asian jumping spiders that was first described by George Peckham & Elizabeth Peckham in 1892. As of June 2019, it contains only three species, which are found only in the Philippines and Indonesia: B. angusticollis, B. excelsus, and B. philippinensis. They are indistinguishable from the related genus Myrmarachne without the help of a microscope.
Marchena is a genus of jumping spiders only found in the United States. Its only described species, M. minuta, dwells on the barks of conifers along the west coast, especially California, Washington and Nevada.
Salticus is a genus of the family Salticidae. Salticus is the type genus for the family Salticidae.
Synemosyna is a genus of ant mimicking jumping spiders that was first described by Nicholas Marcellus Hentz in 1846.
Robert Whyte is an Australian writer. He was a founding co-owner and director of the Brisbane-based multimedia firm ToadShow. After 2012 he participated in the Australian Government's new species exploration program Bush Blitz. His works include The Creek in Our Back Yard: a practical guide to creek restoration (2011) and A Field Guide to Spiders of Australia for CSIRO Publishing 2017.
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.
Emertonius is a genus of spiders in the jumping spider family Salticidae.
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.
Wanda Wesołowska is a Polish zoologist known for her work with jumping spiders. She has described more species of jumping spider than any contemporary writer, and is second only to Eugène Simon in the history of arachnology. Originally a student of ornithology, she developed an interest in jumping spiders while still a student at the Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities in the 1970s. Wesołowska published her first work in 1981, which included the description of nine new species of spiders, the first in what would be a prolific career. She moved to the University of Wrocław to continue her studies, and completed her doctoral thesis that described 44 new species of the genus Heliophanus. She joined the staff at the university, staying there until she retired in 2020. Her research has focused on the description, taxonomy and zoogeography of jumping spiders, and has included extensive work on African genera like Menemerus and Pachyballus. Wesołowska has identified more than 500 species, including half of all those from South Africa, and more than 20 species have been named after her.
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.
Myrmarachne elongata is a species of jumping spider that mimics an ant.
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.
Tutelina formicaria is a species of jumping spider in the family Salticidae. It is found in the United States.
Synemosyna formica is a species of ant-mimicking jumping spider. It is found in the eastern United States and parts of Canada.
