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Jumping spider

Jumping spiders
Jumping spider
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Arthropoda
Class:Arachnida
Order:Araneae
Family:Salticidae
The jumping spiders (Salticidae) are a family of spiders containing more than 4,000 species. The one pictured (Paraphidippus aurantius) is native to North Carolina and is about ¼ inch (.5 cm) long.

Jumping spiders work like technical climbers in the world of mountain climbing. When a jumping spider is moving from place to place, and especially just before it jumps from one place to another, it tethers a filament of silk to whatever it is standing on. Should if fall for one reason or another, it just reels itself back to the point it secured its "climbing rope."

Jumping spiders have very good vision. They capture their prey by jumping on it from several inches away, and they may jump from twig to twig or leaf to leaf. Their eyesight is much better than that of most other spiders. Other spiders will only eat prey that they have captured live because they are unable to see dead prey. Jumping spiders, however, will eat flies that have been killed for them. In the picture you can see that this jumping spider is aware of the photographer.

Jumping spiders also utilize their vision in complex visual courtship displays. Males are often quite different in appearance than females and may have plumose hairs, colored or metallic hairs, front leg fringes, structures on other legs and other, often bizarre, modifications. These are used in visual courtship in which the colored or metallic parts of the body are displayed and complex sideling, vibrational or zigzag movements are performed in a courtship "dance." In recent years it has been discovered that many jumping spiders may have auditory signals as well, with amplified sounds produced by the males sounding like buzzes or drum rolls.

Some jumping spiders, like the one pictured above, are very shy. Others seem very friendly and will happily jump from fingertip to fingertip, or (be careful!) from fingertip to nose. Unlike almost all other spiders, they can quite easily climb on glass. They also use their silk to weave themselves little tent-like dwellings. The females protect their eggs in these dwellings.

Even though they can be quite friendly, the larger ones will bite to protect themselves if you squeeze them. While the bite of a larger jumping spider can be painful, only a few species seem to produce any other effects. All spiders have venom, but the venom of most spiders is not worse than the venom of bees. Even so, it is not fun to be bitten by a cute jumping spider.

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