Phidippus octopunctatus
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Template:Short description Template:Speciesbox
Phidippus octopunctatus is a jumping spider that occurs in the United States and Mexico, mostly in the Great Basin Desert. It is among the largest jumping spiders found in North America, approaching Template:Convert in body length. They are gray to brownish-gray in color.
Unlike Phidippus californicus, which lives in the same habitat, it builds a large and prominent nest among the branches of a bush to house its egg cocoon.[1]
Adult males, unmated adult and subadult females can be found in late August.
Phidippus octopunctatus has been observed to hunt large prey, such as grasshoppers and bees.[1]
Footnotes
References
- <templatestyles src="smallcaps/styles.css"/>Peckham, G.W. & Peckham, E.G. (1883): Descriptions of new or little known spiders of the family Attidae from various parts of the United States of North America. Milwaukee, 1-35.
- <templatestyles src="smallcaps/styles.css"/>Gardner, B.T. (1965): Observations on Three Species of Phidippus Jumping Spiders (Araneae: Salticidae). Psyche 72: 133-147. PDF (P. californicus = P. coccineus, P. apacheanus, P. octopunctatus = P. opifex)
- <templatestyles src="smallcaps/styles.css"/>Edwards, G.B. (2004): Revision of the jumping spiders of the genus Phidippus (Araneae: Salticidae). Occas. Pap. Florida State Collect. Arthropods 11: 1-156.