Fourteen new species and notes on the genera Amauropelma Raven, Stumkat & Gray, 2001 and Bowie Jäger, 2022 (Arachnida: Araneae: Ctenidae) from Southeast Asia

  Fourteen new species and notes on the genera Amauropelma Raven, Stumkat & Gray, 2001 and Bowie Jäger, 2022 (Arachnida: Araneae: Ctenidae) from Southeast Asia Abstract Material of the spider family Ctenidae from Southeast Asia is investigated. Ten new species of the genus Amauropelma Raven, Stumkat & Gray, 2001 are described: A. grasshoffi sp. nov. (first record from the Philippines; male), A. kihit sp. nov. (Laos; female), A. kochang sp. nov. (Thailand; female), A. lombok sp. nov. (Indonesia; male, female), A. maimoun sp. nov. (Laos; female), A. phamom sp. nov. (Laos; female), A. penang sp. nov. (Malaysia; male), A. prangphe sp. nov. (Thailand; male, female), A. saiyok sp. nov. (Thailand; female) and A. thammim sp. nov. (Laos; male, female); the male of A. khanense Jäger & Nophaseud, 2024 is described for the first time. New records are listed for A. jagelkii Jäger, 2012 (Laos) and A. mariae Omelko & Fomichev, 2024a (Indonesia). Four new species of the genus Bowie...

Jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) attacking and eating vertebrates: an update

 


Jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) attacking and eating vertebrates: an update

Abstract

In this study, we provide an update on the knowledge of vertebrate-eating jumping spiders. Twenty-four reports of jumping spider predation on vertebrates are known, which are attributed to seven species: Hyllus diardi (Walckenaer, 1837), H. semicupreus (Simon, 1885), H. treleaveni GW Peckham & EG Peckham, 1902, Paraphidippus cf. aurantius, Phidippus bidentatus FO Pickard-Cambridge, 1901, P. regius CL Koch, 1846, and an unknown species apparently related to Hasarius Simon, 1871. In addition, several unsuccessful predation attempts by Phidippus audax (Hentz, 1845) on hummingbird and chickadee nestlings are documented. Furthermore, an incident of Phidippus otiosus (Hentz, 1846) feeding on an oversized gecko carcass (likely a case of scavenging) is reported. Overall, incidents of vertebrate predation by salticids are likely to be, in most cases, very rare chance encounters between a tiny vertebrate and a hungry spider. In contrast, the case of Phidippus regius is unique for salticids as—to the current state of knowledge—this is the only salticid species in which vertebrate consumption has been reported numerous times (n = 18) and in many different locations (11 different Florida counties, USA).

Martin Nyffeler, Alireza Zamani, Bruce Cutler, Kenneth L. Krysko "Jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) attacking and eating vertebrates: an update," The Journal of Arachnology, 53(2), 143-149, (10 December 2025) https://doi.org/10.1636/JoA-S-23-034