They orient towards prey detected by their lateral eyes whenever the angle subtended by such prey exceeds 5.5°. Using their acute eyesight, they are able to accurately judge the distances they need to jump. They move slowly towards their prey until they are close enough to pounce on top of their victim, and their hunting behaviour has been described as cat-like. Like other jumping spiders, these spiders use their large front eyes to locate and stalk their prey. They have also been observed taking on prey items up to 3 times the length of the spider, such as some of the smaller species of moth. They have been observed feeding on mosquitos that are almost twice their length. Zebra spiders tend to hunt smaller spiders and other arthropods. Spiders have also been known to enter houses, where they can often be found living in the corner of windowsills. Due to their preference for open, vertical habitats they are often found living in proximity to humans in urban habitat such as on garden fences and the walls of buildings. This species is naturally associated with open habitats such as rock faces, shingle beaches and occasionally the trunks of trees. Zebra spiders are widespread across Europe, North America, and North Asia, where they are found throughout the Holarctic. These small spiders are black with white hairs that form stripes. In total there are eight eyes, with the very large anterior median eyes primarily responsible for its excellent binocular vision. Spiders in the family Salticidae have especially enlarged anterior median eyes (AME), though the anterior and posterior lateral eyes (ALE, PLE) are also large when compared to the very small posterior median eyes (PME). Male zebra spiders have distinctly larger chelicerae than females. Description įemale zebra spiders are 5–9 mm long, while males are 5–6 mm. Their common name refers to their vivid black-and-white colouration, whilst their scientific name derives from Salticus from the Latin for “dancing”, in reference to their agility, and the Greek scenicus, translating to “theatrical” or “of a decorative place,” in reference to the flashy, zebra-like coloration of the species. Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.The zebra spider ( Salticus scenicus) is a common jumping spider of the Northern Hemisphere. The mean jumping velocity is estimated to be between 0.64–0.79 m/s. The zebra spider's jump is almost entirely due to the sudden straightening of the fourth pair of legs. The most significant evidence that this extension is due to hydraulic forces is that the leg spines become erect during the jump, a result of increased body pressure which can be demonstrated on many spiders. There are no extensor muscles at the 'hinge joints' of the spider leg, instead joints extension is due to the haemocoelic blood pressure in the leg. They ignore unappetising insects such as ants. The zebra spider's stalk velocity declines progressively as it nears its prey.īefore jumping, they glue a silk thread to the surface that they are jumping from so that if they miss the target, they can climb up the thread and try again - However, they may 'abseil' with a silk thread if they wish to descend from a height safely, for instance they have been documented 'abseiling' from ceilings. The probability that orientation is followed by stalking is a function of both prey size and velocity. The velocity of the prey is not involved in the determination of reactive distance, but only moving objects elicit orientation. Using their acute eyesight, they are able to accurately judge the distances they need to jump.They orient towards prey detected by their lateral eyes whenever the angle subtended by such prey exceeds 5.5°.
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