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

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of the family

Salticidae Jumping spiders are a group of spiders that constitute the family (biology), family Salticidae. , this family contained over 600 species description, described genus, genera and over 6,000 described species, making it the largest family of spide ...

(the jumping spiders). ''Salticus'' is the type genus for the family Salticidae.

Description

Coloration is determined by various scales (modified

setae In biology, setae (; seta ; ) are any of a number of different bristle- or hair-like structures on living organisms. Animal setae Protostomes Depending partly on their form and function, protostome setae may be called macrotrichia, chaetae ...

) 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 gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...

, from which the common name “zebra spiders” originates, e.g. Holarctic '' Salticus scenicus'' (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. In the simples ...

. 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 Halictidae, sweat bees. They are members of the family of bees known as Halictidae. Unlike other sweat bees, they are not attracted to human sweat. The ...

'' sweat bees. ''Salticus'' species range in length from 3-7 mm. Males are smaller than females, but have elongated

chelicerae The chelicerae () are the arthropod mouthparts, 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 ...

and

pedipalps Pedipalps (commonly shortened to palps or palpi) are the secondary pair of forward appendages among Chelicerata, chelicerates – a group of arthropods including spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. The pedipalps are lateral to ...

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 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 reg ...

species associated with human habitations. ''S. scenicus'' has the second most jumping spider observations on

iNaturalist iNaturalist is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit 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 web ...

. 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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

. Four species have been recorded from the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

Species

, the

World Spider Catalog The World Spider Catalog (WSC) is an online searchable database concerned with spider taxonomy. It aims to list all accepted families, genera and species, as well as provide access to the related taxonomic literature. The WSC began as a series of ...

accepted these species: *''

Salticus afghanicus ''Salticus'' (from Latin “''saltus''” – leap or jump) is a genus of the family Salticidae (the jumping spiders). ''Salticus'' is the type genus for the family Salticidae. Description Coloration is determined by various scales (modified se ...

'' Logunov & Zamanpoore, 2005 – Afghanistan *''

Salticus aiderensis ''Salticus'' (from Latin “''saltus''” – leap or jump) is a genus of the family Salticidae (the jumping spiders). ''Salticus'' is the type genus for the family Salticidae. Description Coloration is determined by various scales (modified se ...

'' Logunov & Rakov, 1998 – Turkmenistan *''

Salticus alegranzaensis ''Salticus'' (from Latin “''saltus''” – leap or jump) is a genus of the family Salticidae (the jumping spiders). ''Salticus'' is the type genus for the family Salticidae. Description Coloration is determined by various scales (modified se ...

'' Wunderlich, 1995 – Canary Is. *''

Salticus annulatus ''Salticus'' (from Latin “''saltus''” – leap or jump) is a genus of the family Salticidae (the jumping spiders). ''Salticus'' is the type genus for the family Salticidae. Description Coloration is determined by various scales (modified se ...

'' (Giebel, 1870) – South Africa *''

Salticus austinensis ''Salticus austinensis'', the zebra spider, is a species of jumping spider. It is found in the United States, Mexico, and Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering ...

'' Gertsch, 1936 – United States, Mexico, Central America *''

Salticus beneficus ''Salticus'' (from Latin “''saltus''” – leap or jump) is a genus of the family Salticidae (the jumping spiders). ''Salticus'' is the type genus for the family Salticidae. Description Coloration is determined by various scales (modified se ...

'' (O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1885) – China (Yarkand) *''

Salticus bonaerensis ''Salticus'' (from Latin “''saltus''” – leap or jump) is a genus of the family Salticidae (the jumping spiders). ''Salticus'' is the type genus for the family Salticidae. Description Coloration is determined by various scales (modified se ...

'' 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 ''Salticus'' (from Latin “''saltus''” – leap or jump) is a genus of the family Salticidae (the jumping spiders). ''Salticus'' is the type genus for the family Salticidae. Description Coloration is determined by various scales (modified se ...

'' 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 (named for ''

Lucas the Spider Lucas the Spider is an animated character created by animator Joshua Slice, named after and previously voiced by his nephew. Lucas is based on a jumping spider and has starred in multiple short YouTube videos between 2017 and 2019. History The f ...

'') *'' Salticus major'' (Simon, 1868) – Portugal, Spain, France *'' 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 In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

) – North America, Europe, Russia (Europe to Far East), Caucasus, Kazakhstan, Iran *''

Salticus scitulus ''Salticus'' (from Latin “''saltus''” – leap or jump) is a genus of the family Salticidae (the jumping spiders). ''Salticus'' is the type genus for the family Salticidae. Description Coloration is determined by various scales (modified se ...

'' (Simon, 1868) – France (Corsica) *'' Salticus tricinctus'' (C. L. Koch, 1846) – Mediterranean to Central Asia, Afghanistan *'' 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