Platycryptus undatus
{{Short description|Species of spider}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Platycryptus undatus 0719.jpg
| image_caption = Female
| image2 = Platycryptus undatus 3710.jpg
| image2_caption = Male
| taxon = Platycryptus undatus
| authority = (de Geer, 1778)
| synonyms =
Aranea undata
Aranea lurida
Attus cunctator
Attus milberti
Attus undatus
Attus lentus
Salticus sundevalli
Attus familiaris
Attus rupicola
Marpissa undata
Marpissa conspersa
Marpissa varia
Dendryphantes undatus
Dendryphantes conspersa
Dendryphantes varia
Marptusa familiaris
Marptusa rupicola
Marpissa familiaris
Marpissa rupicola
Metacyrba undata
Platycryptus undata
Platycryptus undatus
}}
Platycryptus undatus, also called the tan or familiar jumping spider, is a species of jumping spider.[http://onnaturemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/A_Guide_to_Some_of_Ontarios_Spiders.pdf A guide to some of Ontario's spiders] by Cole, Noah. Ontario Nature Magazine. 2017. pp. 60-61
Description
{{more refs|section|date=June 2021}}
The bodies of these spiders are rather compressed in the vertical direction, which allows them to hide themselves under the loosened bark of trees and in other tight places. They have a prominent chevron-like pattern on their abdomens which may make them more difficult to distinguish on mottled surfaces.{{cite book
| last = Kaston | first = Benjamin Julian
| title = Spiders of Connecticut
| publisher = Connecticut Geological and Natural History Survey
| edition = Bulletin 70, revised
| year = 1981
| page=454
Females of this species are between 10 and 13 mm in body length, and males range from 8.5 to 9.5 mm.
It favors vertical surfaces such as fences, walls, etc. and because of its habits it is easily seen. These spiders are not inclined to bite, but even though they are rather small they can deliver a defensive bite if they are pinched or squeezed.
Eggs are laid and hatch during the summer, and adults and other stages overwinter in their individual silken shelters. Although the shelters are built separately and keep the spiders out of direct contact with each other, Kaston reports that as many as fifty of them may crowd their shelters for hibernation together so tightly that they form a continuous blanket under the loose bark of a standing tree.{{cite book
| last = Kaston | first = Benjamin Julian
| title = Spiders of Connecticut
| publisher = Connecticut Geological and Natural History Survey
| edition = Bulletin 70, revised
| year = 1981
| page=454
}}
Distribution
Platycryptus undatus occurs in North and Central America. The distribution of this species ranges from the Eastern States and adjacent Canada, to Texas and Wisconsin.{{cite book
| last = Kaston | first = Benjamin Julian
| author-link=B. J. Kaston
| title = How to Know the Spiders
| url = https://archive.org/details/howtoknowspiders0000kast | url-access = registration | edition = 1st
| publisher = W.C. Brown Co.
| location = Dubuque, IA
| year = 1953
| isbn = 0-697-04898-5
| oclc = 681432632
}}{{Page needed|date=August 2017}}
References
{{Reflist}}
- {{aut|Platnick, Norman I.}} (2008): [http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog/index.html The world spider catalog], version 8.5. American Museum of Natural History.
External links
- {{Commons category-inline}}
- [http://www.forestryimages.org/browse/subimages.cfm?SUB=14230 Picture of P. undatus] (free for noncommercial use)
- Good information on spiders' lifestyles from the [https://web.archive.org/web/20110612074518/http://www.emporia.edu/ksn/v47n1-february2001/KSNVOL47-1.htm University of Kansas].
- Lucian K. Ross: A jumping spider feeding on an earthworm. Peckhamia, 71, 1, S. 1-2, September 2008 [http://peckhamia.com/peckhamia/PECKHAMIA%2071.1.pdf PDF]
{{Taxonbar|from=Q291947}}
Category:Spiders of North America