Family SALTICIDAE Blackwall, 1841

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Introduction

Jumping spiders, the salticids, are a diverse component of the Australian fauna, with 91 genera and 498 species described and possibly a further 1000 species present. The family is found in all terrestrial and arboreal habitats throughout Australia and its territories, except the sub-antarctic islands. The fauna is highly endemic, especially in central and western parts of the continent. Some of the fauna is of Gondwanan origin (Zhang and Maddison, 2013, Richardson, 2020) while the salticid faunas of the tropical and coastal habitats of eastern and northern Australia show strong New Guinean and Oriental influences. Some species are cosmotropical in distribution, one is trans-Pacific and ranges of a few extend to New Caledonia and New Zealand (Zabka 1990, 2002). Salticids are skillful jumpers that use their excellent vision to hunt in daylight. Some Australian salticid genera (Myrmarachne, Damoetas, Ligonipes, Rhombonotus, Judalana) mimic ants. Others are beetle (Coccorchestes) or fly (Abracadabrella) mimics. Some species may supplement their diet with nectar (Jackson et al. 2001). The behavior of several Australian species has been studied, especially species in the genera Portia, Jacksonoides, Maratus and Servaea. A multigene, molecular-based phylogeny and taxonomy of the family has been developed (Maddison 2015) . This shows several distinctive Australian-based radiations at the subfamilial level (Maddison et al 2008,Zhang and Maddison 2013). Summaries of the biology and appearance of the Australian fauna can be found in Whyte and Anderson (2017) and Richardson et al (2019). An on-line key to the genera of Australian jumping spiders is also now available (Richardson et al 2019).

 

Excluded Taxa

Misidentifications

SALTICIDAE: Bathippus Thorell, 1892 [the genus, which is found in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, has not been found in Australia]

Bathippus montrouzieri Lucas, 1869 [Though often listed as an Australian species, it is not known from any Australian specimen]

SALTICIDAE: Diolenius Thorell, 1870 — Gardzińska, J. 2006. A revision of the spider genus Ohilimia Strand, 1911 (Araneae: Salticidae). Annales Zoologici, Warszawa 56: 375-385 (Diolenius phrinoides specimens actually of Ohilima scutellata (Kritscher, 1959))

Diolenius phrinoides (Walckenaer, 1837) — Koch, L. 1881. Die Arachniden Australiens, nach der Natur beschrieben und abgebildet. Nürnberg : Bauer & Raspe Vol. 1 pp. 1213-1271. [1240] (reports Diolenius phrinoides from Australia); Davies, V.T. & Żabka, M. 1989. Illustrated keys to the genera of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) in Australia. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 27: 189-266 (Australian representative not phrinoides; shown in fig. 21); Gardzińska, J. 2006. A revision of the spider genus Ohilimia Strand, 1911 (Araneae: Salticidae). Annales Zoologici, Warszawa 56: 375-385 (Diolenius phrinoides specimens actually of Ohilima scutellata (Kritscher, 1959))

SALTICIDAE: Ergane Koch, 1881 [Koch (1881) erected the genus Ergane and described two species, E. cognata and E. insulana, both listed with a type locality of 'Pelewinseln'. Both these species are only known from the type specimens, which translates from German of the period as 'Palau'. 'Pelewinseln' has been mis-translated in the literature, as being the Pellew Islands, Northern Territory (see for examples, Berry et al. 1996, Davies & Zabka 1989, Zabka 1990, Patoleta & Zabka 1999). The other Ergane species also come from Micronesia.]

Ergane cognata L. Koch, 1881

Ergane insulana Koch, 1881

SALTICIDAE: Hyllus C.L. Koch, 1846 — Davies, V.T. & Żabka, M. 1989. Illustrated keys to the genera of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) in Australia. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 27: 189-266 (Hyllus is not included in their list of Australian genera, although it is variously listed as from Australia, basically following Bonnet (1957), however neither the types, nor any other specimens of these species have been collected in Australia (M. Zabka, unpubl. data))

Hyllus bernsteini Thorell, 1881 — Davies, V.T. & Żabka, M. 1989. Illustrated keys to the genera of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) in Australia. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 27: 189-266 (neither the types, nor any other specimens of this species have been collected in Australia (M. Zabka, unpubl. data))

Hyllus giganteus C.L. Koch, 1846 — Davies, V.T. & Żabka, M. 1989. Illustrated keys to the genera of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) in Australia. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 27: 189-266 [194] (variously listed as from Australia, basically following Bonnet (1957), however neither the types, nor any other specimens of this species have been collected in Australia (M. Zabka, unpubl. data))

SALTICIDAE: Saitis berlandi Rower, 1951 [Not known from any Australian specimen]

SALTICIDAE: Thorelliola Strand, 1942 [No specimens of Thorelliola doryphora (Keyserling, 1882) are known from Australia. Consequently, this genus, which is found in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and on some Pacific Islands, is not known from Australia]

Thorelliola doryphora (Keyserling, 1882) [no specimens of this species known from Australia]

SALTICIDAE: Viroqua Peckham & Peckham, 1901 [The species, Viroqua ultima (L. Koch, 1881), for which the type locality is reported as 'Australia?' is from Upolu, W Samoa (Żabka, unpubl.) and this monotypic genus is not known from any Australian specimen.]

Viroqua ultima (L. Koch, 1881) [while the type locality is reported as 'Australia?', it is actually from Upolu, W Samoa (Żabka, unpubl.), It is not known from any Australian specimen.]

SALTICIDAE: Zenodorus juliae (Thorell, 1881) [this is a New Guinea species and is not known from any Australian specimen.]

 

Ecological Descriptors

Arthropod-feeder, carnivorous, predator.

 

Diagnosis

Tiny to large entelegyne spiders. The body compact, sometimes robust, 1–25 mm in length. The eyes are arranged in 3 (4+2+2) or 4 (2+2+2+2) rows; the anterior median eyes much larger than the other pairs. The cephalothorax usually rectangular, less frequently oval or elongate, usually with distinctive fovea. The abdomen variously shaped, sometimes with dorsal scutes. Spinnerets terminal or subterminal, segments unequal in length. Chelicerae parallel to vertical, retrolateral margin with one tooth (undentati), bi/multicuspidate tooth (fissidentati) or multiple teeth (pluridentati). Legs with 2 claws, from short and stout, to very long and thin (up to 4.5 cm long). The first legs usually are more massive than the others, 3rd or 4th usually the longest. Distal podomeres on 1st and 2nd legs with ventral spines on tibiae and metatarsi. Copulatory organs from simple to very complicated, providing good diagnostic characters, though in some distant genera the genitalia may be very similar.

 

General References

Aguilar-Arguello, S., Taylor, A.H. & Nelson, X.J. 2021. Jumping spiders attend to information from multiple modalities when preparing to jump. Animal Behaviour 171: 99-109

Aguilar-Arguello, S. & Nelson, X.J. 2021. Jumping spiders: An exceptional group for comparative cognition studies. Learning and Behaviour

Herberstein, M.E. (Ed.) 2011. Spider Behaviour: Flexibility and Versatility. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press 391 pp.

Hill, D.E, 2020. Respiration by jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae). Peckhamia 225.1: 1-28

Hill, D.E. 2009. Salticidae of the Antarctic land bridge. Peckhamia 76.1: 1-14

Hill, D.E. 2018. The jumping behaviour of jumping spiders: a review (Araneae: Salticidae). Peckhamia 167.1: 1-8

Hill, D.E. 2019. How jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) find and use indirect routes to reach their sighted objectives. Peckhamia 184.1: 1-13

Hill, D.E. 2022. Jumping spider scales. Peckhamia 279,1: 1-83

Jackson, R.R., Pollard, S.D., Nelson, X.J., Edwards, G.B. & Barrion, A.T. 2001. Jumping spiders (Araneae : Salticidae) that feed on nectar. Journal of Zoology, London 255: 25-29

Jackson, R.R. & Nelson, X.J. 2012. Specialized exploitation of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) by spiders (Araneae). Myrmecological News 17: 33-49

Jackson, R.R. & Pollard, S. 1996. Predatory behavior of jumping spiders. Annual Review of Entomology 41: 287-308

Maddison, W.P. 2015. A phylogenetic classification of jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae). Journal of Arachnology 43: 231-292

Maddison, W.P., Bodner, M.R. & Needham, K.M. 2008. Salticid spider phylogeny revisited, with the discovery of a large Australian clade (Araneae: Salticidae). Zootaxa 1893: 49-64

Proszynski, J. 2011. Monograph of Salticidae (Araneae) of the World: 1995-2011. May 26th, 2015. http://www.peckhamia.com/salticidae/

Richardson, B.J. 2020. Evolutionary biogeography of Australian jumping spider genera (Araneae : Salticidae). Australian Journal of Zoology 67: 162-172

Richardson, B.J., Whyte, R. & Zabka, M. 2019. A key to the genera of Australian jumping spiders (Aranaea: Salticidae). https://apps.lucidcentral.org/salticidae/

Whyte, R. & Anderson, G. 2017. A field guide to the spiders of Australia. Clayton : CSIRO Publishing pp.

Żabka, M. 1990. Remarks on Salticidae (Araneae) of Australia. Acta Zoologica Fennica 190: 415-418

Żabka, M. 2002. Zoogeography of Salticidae (Arachnida : Araneae) of New Zealand. Annales Zoologici, Warszawa 52: 459-464

Zabka, M., Patoleta, B. and Trebicki, L. 2019. Salticidae (Arachnida: Araneae) inhabiting island off Australia re-visited. Austral Entomology 58: 382-386

Zabka, M., Patoleta, B. and Trebicki, L. 2019. Salticidae (Arachnida: Araneae) inhabiting island off Australia re-visited. Austral Entomology 58: 382-386

Zhang, Jun-Xia & Maddison, W.P. 2013. Molecular phylogeny, divergence times and biogeography of spiders of the subfamily Euophryinae (Araneae: Salticidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 68: 81-92

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
26-Jun-2024	SALTICIDAE Blackwall, 1841	26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED
26-Jun-2023	SALTICIDAE Blackwall, 1841	13-Jun-2024	MODIFIED	Barry Richardson
05-Aug-2022	SALTICIDAE Blackwall, 1841	26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED	Barry Richardson
01-Jun-2021	SALTICIDAE Blackwall, 1841	26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED
15-Oct-2020	ARANEAE	26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED
23-Dec-2019	SALTICIDAE Blackwall, 1841	26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED	Barry Richardson
30-Sep-2019	SALTICIDAE Blackwall, 1841	26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED	Barry Richardson
29-Mar-2018	SALTICIDAE Blackwall, 1841	26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED
15-Oct-2020	ARANEOMORPHAE	26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED
27-Jul-2017	SALTICIDAE Blackwall, 1841	26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED	Barry Richardson
15-Oct-2020	ARANEOMORPHAE	26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED
27-Jul-2016	SALTICIDAE Blackwall, 1841	26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED	Barry Richardson
06-May-2016	SALTICIDAE Blackwall, 1841	26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED	Barry Richardson
18-Jun-2015	SALTICIDAE Blackwall, 1841	26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED	Barry Richardson
16-Mar-2015	SALTICIDAE Blackwall, 1841	26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED
11-Mar-2015	SALTICIDAE Blackwall, 1841	26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED
30-Oct-2014	SALTICIDAE Blackwall, 1841	26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED
15-Oct-2020	ARANEOMORPHAE	26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED	Dr Federica Turco Jurgen Otto
22-May-2014	SALTICIDAE Blackwall, 1841	26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED	Dr Federica Turco (QM)
12-Nov-2013	SALTICIDAE Blackwall, 1841	26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED
09-Oct-2013	SALTICIDAE Blackwall, 1841	26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED
15-Oct-2020		26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED
15-Oct-2020		26-Jun-2024	MODIFIED
		12-Feb-2010	(import)