As a follow up to the jumping spider-mimicking derbid planthopper, here is an actual jumping spider, called the northern / green jumping spider (Mopsus mormon), a monotypic genus. Under a particular giant mimosoid tree I often find jumping spiders, or actually they find me. If I just stand underneath the tree a jumping spider will usually find its way up my body to the top of my head, all the while depositing a fine line of silk. Although jumping spiders do not make webs, the silk threads are thought to help stabilize their motion in the air when hunting and leaping, and also serve as a safety net when they fall. They will also construct small dense “webs” where the female will deposit her eggs, and sometimes jumpers can be seen guarding the egg sac. In this species the male and female live in different compartments in the web mass, and the adult male will mate with the maturing female when she reaches her final instar. This female was relatively large, about 1.2 cm long, and M. mormon is one of the largest jumping spiders in Australia.
Photographed after disturbance [4]
