''Myrmarachne formicaria'' 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 ...

(family Salticidae). It mimics an ant. It is one of the few species in the genus ''

Myrmarachne ''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 ...

'' that is found outside the tropics.

Name

The species name ''formicaria'' means "ant-like" in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

coming from combining the Latin noun "formica" which means ant and the Latin suffix "-aria" which is commonly used in scientific naming conventions to denote biological genera and groups

Distribution

''M. formicaria'' 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 and has been introduced to the United States. It was first recorded in the United States on 16 August 2001 in

Trumbull County, Ohio Trumbull County is a County (United States), county in the far northeast portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 201,977. Its county seat and largest city is Warren, Ohio, Warren, ...

. Since then, it has spread to

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

References

External links

* Salticidae Spiders of Europe Spiders described in 1778 Palearctic spiders {{Salticidae-stub