Zebra jumping spider
The zebra jumping spider is a tiny black spider with white stripes, just like a zebra. It does not build a web to catch food. Instead it creeps up on insects like a cat and then jumps on them. You can often see it on sunny walls and fences.
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Fun facts
It has eight eyes. The two big ones at the front help it judge exactly how far to jump.
Before it jumps, it glues a safety line of silk to the wall. If it misses, it climbs back up the line.
Its legs do not have muscles to straighten them. It pushes them straight with its blood pressure, and that makes it jump.
It has been seen catching mosquitoes almost twice as long as itself.
To impress a female, the male dances and waves his front legs.
Most asked questions about Zebra jumping spider
?Does the zebra spider make a web?
No. It stalks its prey like a cat and jumps on it, using a silk safety line.
?How big is a zebra jumping spider?
Only about 5 to 9 millimetres long, smaller than a fingernail.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Salticus scenicus
- Group
- Spiders
- Family
- Salticidae
- Classification
- Arachnida > Araneae > Salticidae
- Lives on
- Europe, North America, Asia
- Also known as
- Zebra spider, Zebra jumper
Where the facts come from
- Zebra spider (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Kaldari. CC0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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