Creepy jumping spiders are actually beneficial to your home
Jumping spiders can rapidly move both sideways and backwards for short distances and pounce on passing prey.
The family name for jumping spiders is Salticidae and the family contains 600 genera and over 6 000 described species worldwide which makes it the largest family of spiders. Jumping spiders have the best vision when it comes to arthropods, this keen sense is used in courtship, hunting and day-to-day moving around.
They have four pairs of eyes, three secondary pairs, and a fixed pair in front that are much larger and movable. The front large pair of eyes are what they see the best with.
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“It’s the jumping spiders big eyes that made me fall in love with it over the years. They look intelligent, but did you know that they are actually very clever? There is a species of jumping spider called the Dandy which is classed as the most intelligent spider in the world and they can be found in Durban. They are capable of thinking and solving problems.
“The Dandy specialises in feeding on other spiders, even web-based spiders. The hunting strategy entails thinking of ways to entice its pray out of their sticky web so that the Dandy does not become stuck and the next meal,” said Warren Dick.
While jumping spiders are happy meandering along at a slow pace looking for food, they are capable of jumping vast distances, several times further than their own bodies. This skill comes in handy when hunting prey such as flies or avoiding becoming prey. Before jumping they always anchor down a strand of silk, so if they misjudge they cannot fall too far, kind of like having their own bungee cord attached.
Most jumping spiders are active during the day and don’t make a web, however, most will make themselves a small sleeping bag out of silk to sleep in every night. A sleeping bag is also made when its time for the female to lay her eggs.
Danger to humans:
While jumping spiders do have venom, they are considered harmless to humans.
“There is still a lot more research to be done into spider venom as some people claim to get a wound after being bit by a jumping spider. Unfortunately, spiders are often blamed for bite marks when it is most likely another insect that is responsible. I think jumping spiders are cool and they are welcome to live in my house, especially on the kitchen windowsill where they eat all the pesky flies. To relocate them back into the garden, one can easily do this using a glass jar. Carefully put it over the spider and encourage it to move onto the side of the jar before quickly screwing the lid on.”
Contact Warren to have some of your interesting insects, snakes or spiders identified. Call or WhatsApp him on 072 211 0353. Visit his Facebook page, Warren’s Small World.
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