''Mopsus mormon'' is an Australian

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

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 ...

(jumping spiders). It is the sole species in the

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 ...

''Mopsus''. It is found in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and eastern Australia. It is commonly called the green jumping spider.

Description

At 12 mm (female), this is one of Australia's larger jumping spiders, and very common in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. It also occurs in

, northern

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

, northern

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

and

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. The males are strikingly coloured and decorated with long white "side whiskers", which rise to a peak surmounted by a topknot of black hairs.Jackson 1983 Females lack the whiskers and topknot, but instead feature a red and white "mask".

Behaviour

This species shows an amazingly complex display repertoire, in some respects similar to that of several ''

Phidippus ''Phidippus'' is a genus in the family Salticidae (jumping spiders). Some of the largest jumping spiders inhabit this genus, and many species are characterized by their brilliant, iridescent green chelicerae. ''Phidippus'' is distributed almost ...

'' species ('' P. johnsoni'', '' P. comatus'') and ''

Portia fimbriata ''Portia fimbriata'', sometimes called the fringed jumping spider, is a jumping spider (family (biology), family Salticidae) found in Australia and Southeast Asia. Adult females have bodies 6.8 to 10.5 millimetres long, while those of adul ...

''. However, this is likely to be

convergent evolution Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last comm ...

. Alternative mating tactics have been described, depending on the location of the female. If she is away from her nest, a type of courtship common with many other species is observed. If she is found at a nest, probing and other behaviours similar to ''Phidippus johnsoni'' occur. This second courtship seems not to depend on vision. Like many other salticids, the adult lives together with the subadult female in an adjacent nest until it matures, then mates with her inside her nest.

Footnotes

References

* Jackson, R.R. (1983): The Biology of ''Mopsus mormon'', a Jumping Spider (Araneae: Salticidae) from Queensland: Intraspecific Interactions. ''Aust. J. Zool.'' 31: 39-53
Abstract

External links

{{Taxonbar, from1=Q2023913, from2=Q1579349 Salticidae Spiders of Australia Spiders described in 1878