''Heliophanus cupreus'', the copper sun jumper, is a species of

jumping spider 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 ...

belonging to 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 ...

Subspecies

Subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

include: *''Heliophanus cupreus cuprescens'' *''Heliophanus cupreus globifer''

Distribution

''Heliophanus cupreus'' has a

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is a biogeographic realm of the Earth, the largest of eight. Confined almost entirely to the Eastern Hemisphere, it stretches across Europe and Asia, north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. Th ...

distribution, being found throughout Europe except Iceland. Fauna Europaea
It is alco present in

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

(

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

to West

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. In Great Britain it has a scattered distribution as far north as central

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

where it is normally a coastal species.

Habitat and ecology

''Heliophanus cupreus'' has been collected from a wide variety of habitat types such as woodlands, grasslands,

raised bog Raised bogs, also called ombrotrophic bogs, are acidic, wet habitats that are poor in mineral salts and are home to flora and fauna that can cope with such extreme conditions. Raised bogs, unlike fens, are exclusively fed by precipitation (ombro ...

s, coastal cliffs and shingle beaches, as well as disturbed habitats such as wastelands and quarries. Within its varied habitats, ''Heliophanus cupreus'' is commonly encountered in the drier locations. It is occasionally observed to be active on the surface but is more commonly found within the litter. In northern

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

''Heliophanus cupreus'' seems to require sunny conditions. When resting, ''Heliophanus cupreus'' may be found in a silken cell placed either under stones or within the litter.Spider and Harvestman Recording Scheme website
/ref>

Description

''Heliophanus cupreus'' can reach a body length of about in males, of in females. Nentwig W, Blick T, Gloor D, Hänggi A, Kropf C
Spiders of Europe.
/ref> These spiders have a dark, blackish body, with a metallic sheen. On the female the

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

s are yellow or light brown and contrast with her overall appearance. Furthermore the prosoma is usually crossed by a white line behind the eyes and the abdomen is circled with a white line, with white dots above.Regard d’Aragnee
/ref> The male has dark palps with white squamose hairs on front. The tibial apophysis has a fine, long, pointed, hook-shaped process. The male has a long

palpal bulb The two palpal bulbs – also known as palpal organs and genital bulbs – are the copulatory organs of a male spider. They are borne on the last segment of the pedipalps (the front "limbs" of a spider), giving the spider an appearance often descr ...

. The

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 ...

is black with a metallic sheen and has white hairs, towards the front bright and on some individuals there are 1-2 bright pairs of spots to the rear. Legs are light yellow, with black longitudinal stripes, although some individuals may have uniformly dark legs. The

opisthosoma The opisthosoma is the posterior part of the body in some arthropods, behind the prosoma ( cephalothorax). It is a distinctive feature of the subphylum Chelicerata (arachnids, horseshoe crabs and others). Although it is similar in most respects ...

is grey-black, again with a metallic sheen and white hairs.

Biology

The adults of both sexes are found mainly in May, June and July and females may persist into the autumn.

References

{{taxonbar, from=Q1759906 Salticidae Spiders of Europe Spiders described in 1802 Palearctic spiders