Marpissa muscosa

Cow jumping spider ( Marpissa muscosa )

The cow jumping spider ( Marpissa muscosa ) is a spider of the family of jumping spiders. They settled mostly sunny tree trunks, posts or wood pile.

Description

Males reach a length of 6 to 8 mm, females are 8 to 11 mm long. The species is among the largest indigenous jumping spiders. The prosoma is gray-brown to dark brown haired and pale gray. The strikingly elongated opisthosoma wearing a camouflage markings; located in the middle of a wide, light brown band on both sides of which are large, slightly darker brown patches. The legs are striped light and dark. Unlike many other members of the family, the color differences between males and females in the cow jumping spider are low. In the female the eyes are outlined in black and it shows under the eyes a wide, orange napkin. The males lack these features, among them, however, the end members of the pedipalps are greatly enlarged.

Distribution and habitat

The distribution of the cortical jumping spider is restricted to the Palearctic. The species occurs in almost all of Europe before, but it is absent in Ireland and is limited in the UK to the southeast. In Germany the species is apparently the north and west more often than in the south and east.

The species inhabits tree trunks dry forests or orchards, but also old wood piles or wooden walls. If appropriate structures are in place, it also occurs in open to semi- open areas such as dunes or neglected grassland.

Way of life

Cow jumping spiders prey on insects like all jumping spiders in the jump. At appropriate places, they can be quite common. At high density, a hierarchy is formed, recede into the lower-ranking animals gently with splayed front legs. In case of bad weather, an approximately 2 cm long living web is sought under loose bark or in wood columns.

Mating takes place mainly in May. Males perform a courtship dance before the females on, then they follow the females in their hiding place and mate there. The female builds his living web of the summer and then produce up to five egg sacs, which it guarded until hatching of the spiderlings. The young spiders are fully grown after two years.

Endangering

The species is widespread and common in suitable habitats. It is classified as " safely " in Germany in the Red List.