Red-Backed Jumping Spider: How to Identify. -

Don’t mistake Phidippus johnsoni, a red-backed jumping spider commonly found throughout western North America, with the venomous Latrodectus hasselti, the redback spider. With its relatively large size compared to other jumping spiders, a red-backed jumping spider is one of the easiest species to recognize and identify.

Red-Backed jumping spider: Description

With a length of .4 inches, the adult red-backed jumping spider has a bright red abdomen and shining teal chelicerae. Most of its body is black in coloration, with females having a different black central stripe. This species has evolved to mimic mutillid wasps from the genus Dasymutilla (“velvet ants”), which are around the same size and have similar colors and painful stings.

Red-backed jumping spiders: Habitat and range.

Red-backed jumping spiders’ range is limited to the boundaries of the Great Plains, the Pacific Ocean, northern Mexico, and southern Canada – ranging from sea level up to tree line habitats such as sandy dunes or oak woodlands. In 2012 NASA even sent one into space!

Red-Backed jumping spiders: Behavior.

Red-backed jumping spiders construct conspicuous and silken nests beneath rocks, wood, or grape vines to retreat during bad weather. Inside the nest is where molting, egg laying, mating, and courtship all occur. These spiders feed primarily on prey about half their size.

Not only do these creatures feast on various insects such as flies, bugs, and moth caterpillars or adults, but they also thrive on spiders. On rare occasions, cannibalism can be witnessed where females feed upon males.