Last Updated on Thursday, 23 July, 2020 11:52:58 AM

The Five Arachnid families  >  Spiders of Borneo  >  NON-WEB SPIDERS > JUMPING SPIDERS IN BORNEO

蜘蛛目Order Araneida
A pictorial browser of Spiders of Borneo
(East Malaysia, Brunei and Kalimantan of Indonesia)

JUMPING SPIDERS IN MALAYSIA
跳蛛科(蠅虎科)

Family : Salticidae
(Jumping Spider)
 

Salticidae, Jumping Spiders : ednieuw.home.xs4all.nl
 

How many craw on a leg of a Jumping Spider?

TWO CRAWS

Castianeira sp ESPLANADE is a spider with two-clawed legs

 

THREE CRAWS

Palpelius sp WHITESTRIPE is a jumping spiders with three-clawed legs

A female Hyllus semicupreus spider of Borneo

A heavy bodied jumper spiders commonly seen on tree trunks and bushes.
This spider is known to eat small insects like grasshoppers, flies, bees as well as other small spiders.

Jumping spiders
The jumping spider family (Salticidae) contains more than 500 described genera and over 5,000 species, making it the largest family of spiders with about 13% of all species (Peng et al., 2002). Jumping spiders have good vision and use it for hunting and navigating. They are capable of jumping from place to place, secured by a silk tether. Both their book lungs and the tracheal system are well-developed, as they depend on both systems (bimodal breathing).
 

Habitat of Jumping spiders
Jumping spiders live in a variety of habitats. Tropical forests harbor the most species, but they are also found in temperate forests, scrub lands, deserts, intertidal zones, and even mountains. Euophrys omnisuperstes is a species reported to have been collected at the highest elevation, on the slopes of Mt. Everest (Wanless, 1975).
 

Eye Pattern of Jumping Spiders

Jumping spiders are generally recognized by their eye pattern.

Eyes of Jumping Spiders
Jumping spiders have eight eyes, with one large pair in the front. Like most spiders, jumping spiders are not considered hazardous to humans and are unlikely to bite unless cornered or handled.

Evarcha culicivora, which is not found in Borneo, is  known to only capture mosquitoes full of blood, using their eyesight and smell.
 

Eyes of a female Agorius sp ESPLANATE (new record in Borneo)
 

Eyes of a female Siler semiglaucus of Borneo. The smallest 3rd pair of eyes are undeveloped.
 

MORE about the Eyes of Spiders in Borneo

Behavior of Jumping Spiders

Jumping spiders are generally diurnal, active hunters. Their well developed internal hydraulic system extends their limbs by altering the pressure of body fluid (blood) within them. This enables the spiders to jump without having large muscular legs like a grasshopper. The jumping spider can therefore jump 20 to 60 or even 75-80 times the length of their body. When a jumping spider is moving from place to place, and especially just before it jumps, it tethers a filament of silk to whatever it is standing on. Should it fall for one reason or another, it climbs back up the silk tether.
Jumping spiders are Scopula bearing spiders, which means that they have a very interesting Tarsal section. And the end of each leg they have hundreds of tiny hairs, which each then split into hundreds more tiny hairs, each tipped with an "end foot". These thousands of tiny feet allow them to climb up and across virtually any terrain. They can even climb up glass by gripping onto the tiny imperfections, usually an impossible task for any spider.

Jumping spiders also use their silk to weave small tent-like dwellings where females can protect their eggs, and which also serve as a shelter while moulting.

Jumping spiders are known for their curiosity. If approached by a human hand, instead of scuttling away to safety as most spiders do, the jumping spider will usually leap and turn to face the hand. Further approach may result in the spider jumping backwards while still eyeing the hand. The tiny creature will even raise its forelimbs and "hold its ground". Because of this contrast to other arachnids, the jumping spider is regarded as inquisitive as it is seemingly interested in whatever approaches it.

Jumping spiders are in the family Salticidae. Jumping spiders come in many sizes and color patterns. Active hunters during the day with good eyesight, relying primarily on movement to locate prey.
The jumping spider family (Salticidae) contains more than 500 described genera and over 5,000 species, making it the largest family of spiders with about 13% of all species (Peng et al., 2002). Jumping spiders have good vision and use it for hunting and navigating. They are capable of jumping from place to place, secured by a silk tether. Both their book lungs and the tracheal system are well-developed, as they depend on both systems (bimodal breathing).
They stalk (approach quietly) their prey before attacking in a fast leap. Jumping spiders put out a line of webbing when they jump and can sometimes be seen dangling from this silken dragline after a leap that fails.
Many jumping spiders are bold, stocky and often brightly colored. They often have conspicuous bands of black and white on their bodies or legs. Others have velvety red abdomens and some even have metallic colors on the chelicerae.

COMMON JUMPING SPIDERS IN TAWAU
Jumping Spiders of Sabah, Malaysia

Spiders are a common and familiar group of arthropods. They are similar to insects in that they both have exoskeletons (their skeletons are on the outside of their bodies) and jointed legs.

All spiders produce silk throughout their lifetime. Spiders use silk to build webs and other types of snares, egg cases, draglines, and refuges. Silk is also produced by spiderlings (young spiders) during a process called ballooning in which the spiderlings shoot silk into the air and are carried away by the wind.
Spiders are predators feeding mainly on insects. All spiders have venom but most spiders are harmless to human. They are very shy and usually remain hidden in undisturbed areas. Many are active only at night. They are not aggressive and they will try to escape when confronted. Only a few spiders bite.

 

Differences between spiders and insects
 

Jumping Spider Hunting
Jumping spiders capture their prey by jumping on it several inches away, and they may jump from twig to twig or leaf to leaf. They can jump thirty times their body length. They can carry out complex maneuvers such as detours around obstacles in order to reach their prey. Their eyesight is much better than that of other spiders and insects.
Most other spiders will only eat prey that they have captured live because they are unable to see dead prey (some long-legged sac spiders and anyphaenid sac spiders are exceptions as they recognize insect eggs as food) but jumping spiders will eat flies that have been killed for them.

One jumping spider (Evarcha culicivora) is even known to only capture mosquitoes full of blood, using their eyesight and smell.

Following are some Prey of Jumping Spiders:

A female Carrhotus sp TANAH MERAH (new record species) successfully prey on a stingless-bee.
 

A heavy body build female Rhene flavigera jumping spider managed to capture an Araneidae web spider with larger legs span but lighter body size.

A Hyllus semicupreus Jumping Spider captured a Robber Fly prey.

A female Hyllus semicupreus Jumping Spider captured a fruit fly alive.

This common jumping spider of Sabah caught a house fly.
Spiders are considered beneficial because of the large number of insects they prey on, including a number of pest species.
 

A Hyllus semicupreus jumping spider captured another species of spider.
The above jumping spider with 2 big eyes is having a juice meal of another smaller spider of another species.

The victim is a smaller species yellow spider. The abdomen being sucked dry

SPIDER FACTS AND INFORMATION

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Common Spiders of Borneo