Phidippus regius
| Phidippus regius | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Phidippus regius | ||||||||||||
| CL Koch , 1846 |
Phidippus regius (English common name: regal jumping spider ) is one of the largest species of the family of the jumping spiders (Salticidae). It occurs in the eastern states of the USA , especially in Florida , the West Indies and introduced also on Easter Island . The holotype wascollectedin Cuba . The animals come in different colors. The spiders are also kept in terrariums.
Habitat
It lives in meadows and open forest areas. On the other hand, it cannot be found in the thick forests. Younger specimens are found in areas with shrubs, where they make their nests on the tip of the shrub or in rolled leaves. The older animals prefer palm-like plants, bushes or trees in semi-arid areas. The nests are often built there in the veins of the palm fronds or below the tree bark. There are also nests in cracks or holes in old houses. They like to stay in sun-exposed places during the day, so older animals are often found on smooth surfaces such as house walls.
features
size
The females have an average body length of 15 mm (7 to 22 mm). The males are a little smaller with an average body length of 12 mm (6 to 18 mm). A case of allometry occurs in males : the first pair of legs of large males is, in proportion to body size, considerably longer than that of small males.
Coloring and drawing
The females are colored differently. There is a lead-red , gray-black to beige-black color variant with various mixed forms. The more colorful varieties occur mainly in the lower two thirds of Florida and the Greater Antilles . These different colors can also come from the same cocoon.
Similarities between the color variants of the females exist in the drawing of the abdomen. There is a spot on the opisthosoma that is reminiscent of a bulging triangle. Between this and the spinnerets there is an oval spot on both sides. Depending on the color variant, these spots are colored white, yellowish to lead-red and have a dark border in the lead-red color variant. All animals also have a lighter basal stripe on the abdomen. Depending on the variant, it is white, yellowish to lead-red. Otherwise the opisthosoma has either a black, beige or lead-red basic color. With the lead-red color variants, the color of the hair on the abdomen can be a lead-red-black mixture that ranges from spotty to dense black-red. The opisthosoma has several longer black and white, protruding hairs. The underside of the opisthosoma is black. The carapace is either black or lead-red with black spots and a black area around the apex eyes. The visual field is hairy black, white, yellowish to lead-red depending on the variant. The bite claws are iridescent purple or green. The legs have a black-brown basic color with white to yellowish hair, which is more pronounced at the segment bases.
Carl Ludwig Koch described the holotype as a lead-red-black female with a black carpax, yellowish visual field and a black opisthosoma with lead-red spots and bite-claws with a green base and a transition into purple and reddish.
The male, on the other hand, is always black and white in color and, in contrast to the green-violet bite claws of the female, has strong green-blue iridescent chelicerae. This difference is already developed in young animals and thus enables gender to be recognized at an early stage. There is a white basal band and three white spots on the abdomen. The first pair of legs is colored alternately white and black. The carapace can also contain white areas.
The species is similar to Phidippus otiosus and Phidippus audax . Phidippus otiosus does not have oval but square spots on the back. Phidippus audax also has four pairs of relatively large, dark spots that lie one behind the other on the upper side of the opisthosoma.
Poison
The openings of the venom glands are on the back of the claws and are about 0.1 mm from the tip. Through them, the spider can inject a very potent poison into the prey. So it is able to capture larger animals such as butterflies and grasshoppers. Humans are extremely rarely bitten because the spider is not aggressive and retreats when disturbed.
behavior
The spiders are diurnal and hunt their prey in good light. Young animals prefer to catch flies; older specimens, on the other hand, jump terrors , Schnabelkerfen , caterpillars and butterflies . At night the spiders retreat to their nests. These are elliptical spun structures. There are openings on both sides. These nests are also used for molting and building cocoons. The males can often be found in females. Adult males often live together with young females. As soon as the females are sexually mature, they mate.
The females build a cocoon up to four times in their life. The number of eggs increases from time to time. The first cocoon contains an average of 183 eggs. On average, a female with four cocoons lays a total of 402 eggs in her lifetime. There are also some females that can manage significantly larger numbers, as a large female can lay up to 570 eggs in a single cocoon. If females are not fertilized, they build pseudo cocoons.
Terrariums
The animals are also cared for in the terrarium and successful offspring are known. The terrarium should have at least the dimensions 15 × 15 × 15 cm (L × W × H). In addition, it should have plenty of climbing and hiding spots that are created with branches and plants. The optimal temperature is between 25 and 30 ° C. Since jumping spiders are diurnal ambulance hunters, the terrarium should be illuminated or at least be bright; but without direct sunlight. Food animals should be removed from the terrarium if they are not eaten, as they can otherwise be dangerous for the spiders at night. Individual keeping is recommended, as cases of cannibalism are also known. If there are other animals nearby, a privacy screen should be installed to reduce the stress caused by the movements for the spiders.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j regal jumping spider, Phidippus regius CL Koch (Arachnida: Araneae: Salticidae) [1] . University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Retrieved May 21, 2012
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Sabrina Reddmann: Jumping spiders (Salticidae) in the terrarium. Keeping, breeding and rearing of Salticidae using the example of Phidippus regius CL Koch, 1846 . In: Arachne, edition 4, July 2010, German Arachnological Society eV
- ↑ a b C. L. Koch: The arachnids . Nuremberg, Volume thirteenth, page 146.
- ↑ a b c Rainer Foelix, Bruno Erb, Judith Kastenmeier: Morphological peculiarities of the jumping spider Phidippus regius CL Koch, 1846 . In: Arachne, issue 6, November 2010, German Arachnological Society eV
