Stats

Lifespan: About 1 yr
Size: Large
Diet: Insectivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Temperate shrubland
Range: Western North America
Movement: Hopping
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Speed
Status: Uncommon

About

Johnson's jumping spider is a bold western North American hunter with a black body, a bright red abdomen (on males), and a pair of oversized forward-facing eyes that give it near-360-degree vision and depth perception sharp enough to judge jumps many times its own body length. Its iridescent green chelicerae flash in direct sunlight as it stalks prey rather than trapping it in a web.

Life cycle

1.
egg sac
A silk-wrapped egg sac shelters a clutch of eggs until the young are ready to emerge.
2.
juvenile
A spiderling emerges from the egg sac already in miniature adult form and starts catching prey almost immediately.
3.
subadult
A near-adult arachnid molts through several instars, growing larger and developing mature markings.
4.
adult
Fully grown after its final molt.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Family: Salticidae
Genus: Phidippus
Species: Phidippus johnsoni