Phidippus otiosus is a species of jumping spider that is found in southeastern North America. It is primarily a tree-living species.[1] Females reach a body length of about 16 mm. Its iridescent chelicerae can range in color from purple to green.

Phidippus otiosus
Female
Male
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Chelicerata
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Infraorder: Araneomorphae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Salticinae
Genus: Phidippus
Species:
P. otiosus
Binomial name
Phidippus otiosus
(Hentz, 1846)
Synonyms

Attus pulcher
Attus peregrinus
Attus otiosus
Phidippus carolinus
Dendryphantes carolinus
Dendryphantes otiosus
Phidippus dorsalis
Phidippus pulcher

Life cycle

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Females position their single egg sac under the bark of oak and pine trees.[2] These are laid from December to February in South Carolina, and from January to June in Florida. The egg sac can hold anywhere from 19-150 eggs, and the spiderlings (slings) will disperse between January and February.[3] The spiderlings mature during fall.

Systematics

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Phidippus otiosus is grouped with the closely related species P. californicus, P. pius and P. regius in the otiosus group.[4]

Distribution

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Phidippus otiosus naturally occurs in the southeastern United States from Florida and Texas to North Carolina.[5] However, this species is sometimes exported with plants such as Tillandsia, and has been found in countries as remote as Sweden[6] and Germany.

Name

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The species name is possibly derived from Latin otium "leisure, peace, quiet" + the suffix -osus "full of, prone to", or from Ancient Greek oto- "ear", referring to the tufts of black hair.

A common name for this species is Canopy Jumping Spider.

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Roach 1988
  2. ^ Phidippus otiosus "Canopy Jumper" | Tarantulaspiders Online
  3. ^ Roach, Steven H. (1988). "Reproductive Periods of Phidippus Species (Araneae, Salticidae) in South Carolina". The Journal of Arachnology. 16 (1): 95–101. ISSN 0161-8202.
  4. ^ bugguide.net
  5. ^ Edwards 2004
  6. ^ Salticidae.org: P. otiosus from Sweden

References

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  • Roach, Stephen H. (1988): Reproductive Periods of Phidippus Species (Araneae, Salticidae) in South Carolina. Journal of Arachnology 16(1): 95-101. PDF
  • Edwards, G.B. (2004): Revision of the jumping spiders of the genus Phidippus (Araneae: Salticidae). Occasional Papers of the Florida State Collection of Arthropoda.
  • Platnick, Norman I. (2008): The world spider catalog, version 8.5. American Museum of Natural History.

Further reading

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  • Edwards, G.B. (1980): Taxonomy, ethology, and ecology of Phidippus (Araneae: Salticidae) in eastern North America. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Florida, Gainesville.
  • (1996): Metabolic rates of resting salticid and thomisid spiders. Journal of Arachnology 24(2): 129-134. PDF
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