Jumping Spider Facts & Information

What Orkin Does

Your local Orkin Pro is trained to help manage jumping spiders and similar pests. Since every building or home is different, your exterminator will design a unique spider treatment program for your situation. Orkin can provide the right solution to keep jumping spiders in their place...out of your home, or business. Contact your local Orkin branch for help getting rid of spiders.

What do jumping spiders look like?

• Eyes: They are equipped with eight eyes, four of which are apportioned to the face and four of which are located at the highest point of the carapace. Long and tubelike, the two eyes located at the center of the face have limited perspective and high resolution. In contrast, the other eyes have low acuity and a wider field of view.

• Legs: Jumping spiders are known for their swift reflexes and leaping abilities. These spiders are capable of leaping as high as 25 times their own size and, as such, are extremely capable predators.

• Color: These arachnids tend to exhibit dull coloration, although the bodies of some males may glisten.

Where do jumping spiders live?

With over 4,000 species known throughout the globe, tropical regions are most influenced by these spiders. However, some species thrive in the frigid Himalayas. Over 300 species exist within North America.

Jumping Spider Habitats

Jumping spiders are particularly abundant in grassland and prairie environments. Jumping house spiders also enter indoor habitats by being accidentally carried in on plants or a person. These arachnids can be found in yards as well as inside and surrounding barns and houses.

What do jumping spiders eat?

Jumping spider diets consist of:

• Bollworms

• Cotton leaf worms

• Cotton flea hoppers

• Leafhoppers

• Mosquitoes

• Stinkbugs

• Webworms

Webs

Although these spiders are not web-weaving arachnids, they do produce silk. Their silk is used to mark retreats and to protect eggs. Silk may also function as a dragline while jumping, allowing jumping spiders to control their fall and trace their steps.

Jumping Mechanics

Among arthropods, jumping spiders, or salticids, are known for their superior eyesight. They are also famous for their agility, as they are some of the fastest-moving arthropods in existence. The circulatory system of these spiders is responsible for their mobility. When blood pressure rises in their limbs, their bodies move by way of released pressure.

The jumping spider eludes predators in different ways. Some species use camouflage and blend into the surrounding environment. Others remain alert and watchful for predators as well as prey. If a threat is detected they flee or hide.

More Information

Daring Jumping Spiders (Phidippus audax)

Daring jumping spiders are one of the most common spider species in North America.

Green Jumping Spiders (Mopsus mormon)

Male green jumping spiders have dark red heads with bright green bodies while females have leafy-green bodies.

Zebra Jumping Spiders (Salticus scenicus)

Zebra jumping spiders spin webs to protect their egg sacs instead of using them to catch prey.

Small Jumping Spiders

Small jumping spiders earned their name from their hunting tactics, which include pouncing on their prey.