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Thursday, June 13, 2013

Thiodina Jumping Spider

I had originally classified this spider as a female Hentzia mitrata, but the features just didn't match up. I think Thiodina sp. is a much better fit, although I can't determine whether the species is Thiodina sylvana or puerpera. Both can be found in the Eastern US. If an adult, this specimen is obviously female, but it may be immature, in which case I'm unsure of the sex. I believe it was hunting Lynx Spiders when I photographed it. 

All members of Thiodina have two pairs of ventral bulbous setae on tibia I. The purpose of these is unknown. In terms of taxonomy, they belong to the subfamily Thiodininae. The other jumpers I've found are members of Dendryphantinae.


References:
http://peckhamia.com/peckhamia/PECKHAMIA_99.1.pdf (notes on T. sylvana & puerpera by Peckham Society)
http://salticidae.org/salticid/diagnost/thiodina/silv-gb.htm (T. sylvana)
http://archive.org/details/ThiodinaSylvana-Hentz1846-JumpingSpider (video of T. sylvana)
http://archive.org/details/dickwalton-thpu (video of T. puerpera)
Note: If you type in "thiodina" in the search box at http://archive.org/, you can find more interesting videos of this genus.
http://tolweb.org/Thiodina_puerpera/5906 (Tree of Life)
http://tolweb.org/Thiodina_sylvana/5911

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