​All About Jumping Spiders!

Whether it has been on social media, outside or right in your own home, I can almost guarantee that you have seen a jumping spider at some point in your life. Jumping spiders are very common and are super easy to identify when you cross paths with one. With their cute faces, funny personalities and wide range of colors and sizes, jumping spiders are becoming a top choice for spider enthusiasts all over the world!

Jumping spiders are the biggest family of spiders with well over 6,300 species currently identified. Jumping spiders can be found nearly everywhere in the world. The only place that they don’t live is Antarctica! Can you blame them? They can be found in so many different environments including tropical forests, deserts, grasslands and temperate forests! Across all of the different species in the family, there is a huge range of colors, sizes, habitats and prey. Some species of jumping spiders are plain with minimal exciting colors while others range in color from blues, yellows, reds and greens. Some jumping spiders have distinct patterns such as stripes on their bodies or legs while others are one uniform color. Jumping spiders are generally pretty small spiders but their size does vary depending on the species. The larger jumping spiders can be around an inch while the tinier ones can be as small as 1 millimeter in length! Aside from their small size and variety of colors, the most notable trait of jumping spiders are those big, cute eyes!

Jumping spiders all have four sets of eyes. Yes, you read that correctly, they have eight eyes! The front pair, which is particularly large, gives jumping spiders that cute, recognizable face that we all love. But those eyes aren’t just for looks! No pun intended… They also give jumping spiders amazing vision. A jumping spider’s two front facing eyes offer them extremely sharp eyesight. They can even see in color. Jumping spiders can see better than any other spider and their vision can be more closely compared to animals such as cats and elephants! The rest of their eyes are smaller, offer slightly lower resolution and are only able to see in black and white. With that being said, all of their eyes work together to offer the spider a nearly 360-degree view of their surroundings! Their incredible eyesight is vital for jumping spiders as they rely on that, among other things to catch prey.

Jumping spiders, unlike a lot of other spiders, do not spin webs. Other spiders use their webs as a means to capture prey, making it easy for them to apprehend and enjoy their meal. Because jumping spiders do not do this, they rely on their eyes to be able to seek out prey and their super powerful legs to stalk and pounce on their victim! Not only do jumping spiders actually jump, but they are very good at it, too! Some jumping spiders can jump thirty times the length of their own body! This would be equivalent to a human jumping over a football field! Unlike animals like grasshoppers, jumping spiders don’t have extra special leg muscles that allow them to jump this far. Instead, jumping spiders are able to launch themselves by changing the blood flow in their bodies! They use special muscles to suddenly increase the blood flow to their legs, causing their legs to quickly and fully extend, allowing the spider to launch through the air. This ability to jump and their amazing eyesight allows them to effectively and accurately pounce on their prey. At this point, I’m sure you’re wondering what it is that jumping spiders eat.

Jumping spiders are carnivores, which means that they eat meat! No, not chicken wings and filet mignon. They eat bugs! The insects that jumping spiders eat vary depending on where they live but they are known to eat things such as flies, worms, beetles and even other spiders. While less common, some jumping spiders have been observed eating small lizards and frogs! In captivity, jumping spiders eat mealworms, crickets, wax worms and roaches, among other popular feeders. Due to their very “hands on” approach to hunting, jumping spiders need to eat more than you would expect to keep up with the energy they burn while hunting. Although they are avid hunters, they tend to be very docile towards people. They rarely bite humans and if they do, the bites typically do not have any effect on people.

When it comes to jumping spiders, there is a lot to love! As they gain popularity in the pet trade, it is interesting to learn about where they come from and how they manage those impressive hops! Their bright colors and adorable eyes are hard to ignore, and their unique way of catching prey is a real showstopper. We look forward to providing feeders to more jumping spiders as time goes on!

Sources:

“Jumping Spider Fun Facts | Terminix.” Www.terminix.com, www.terminix.com/blog/bug-facts/jumping-spider-fun-facts/#:~:text=Jumping%20spiders%20use%20their%20legs.

Pappas, Stephanie. “Jumping Spiders: Facts about the Cutest Arachnids on the Planet.” Livescience.com, 18 Nov. 2021, www.livescience.com/jumping-spiders.

Pino, Melissa. “Jumping Spider: Everything You Need to Know + 7 Facts!” Planet Natural, 8 Dec. 2023, www.planetnatural.com/jumping-spider/. Accessed 29 Feb. 2024.