# Philaeus chrysops

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Philaeus_chrysops
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Philaeus_chrysops.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philaeus_chrysops
> Source revision: 1296859562
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

***Philaeus chrysops*** is a [species](/source/Species) of [jumping spider](/source/Jumping_spider) (Salticidae).

## Distribution and habitat

*Philaeus chrysops* occurs in the [Palearctic](/source/Palearctic), from [Portugal](/source/Portugal) to [South China](/source/South_China) and [Korea](/source/Korea). They are rather common in most of [Europe](/source/Europe), especially in the southern countries. They are not reported in [Ireland](/source/Ireland), [Iceland](/source/Iceland) and some other northern regions, like most of [Scandinavia](/source/Scandinavia), [Estonia](/source/Estonia), [Latvia](/source/Latvia) and Northern [European Russia](/source/European_Russia). Outside Europe, they are present in [North Africa](/source/North_Africa), the [Near East](/source/Near_East), [Turkey](/source/Turkey), the [Caucasus](/source/Caucasus), [Central Asia](/source/Central_Asia), [Iran](/source/Iran), [Afghanistan](/source/Afghanistan), [China](/source/China), [Mongolia](/source/Mongolia) and [Korea](/source/Korea).[1][2][3]

## Habitat

These spiders prefer open and warm areas. They can usually be found in dry, rocky or sandy habitats, with low and open vegetation.

## Description

Normal body length is 7–12 millimetres (0.28–0.47 in), but 5 mm small males do occur. Unusual for spiders, the males are often bigger. The sexes differ extremely [Sexual dimorphism](/source/Sexual_dimorphism): males are very colorful with a glaringly red [opisthosoma](/source/Opisthosoma) (chrysops means "golden eye" in Greek). The males have a dark brown or blackish [cephalothorax](/source/Cephalothorax), usually with two broad longitudinal white stripes behind the rear eyes. The [abdomen](/source/Abdomen) is bright orange-red on the back and the sides, with a longitudinal black stripe in the center and black shoulders. The long, slender legs are dark with the patellae and most of the tibiae of the first two pairs bright orange-red. [2]

The cephalothorax of the female is similar to the male, but with much smaller white stripes. The back of her abdomen is largely covered with a very broad rather irregular brown band with two longitudinal whitish stripes and a few whitish marks near the sides. The remainder of the abdomen and the sides may be orange-brown or pale brown, the legs light brown with dark brown rings.[1][2]

## Biology

These spiders can be found in the warm spring and summer months. The young spiders become adults around July. Like the other [jumping spiders](/source/Jumping_spider), this species does not use webs to capture prey. *Philaeus chrysops* hunts freely, quickly jumping on prey and blocking it with claws and pedipalps. Hunting takes place only during the day, in the hot hours. [2] When the adult male has found a female, it will start a courtship, shaking forelegs in the air and drumming on the ground with the abdomen and pedipalps. After the mating, females lay the eggs in a cocoon, watching them until hatching. [2][4]

## Bibliography

- (2000): An Introduction to the Spiders of South East Asia. *Malaysian Nature Society*, Kuala Lumpur.
- (2007): [The world spider catalog](http://research.amnh.org/entomology/spiders/catalog/index.html), version 8.0. *American Museum of Natural History*.
- Barbara Baehr und Martin Baehr: Welche Spinne ist das? Die bekanntesten Arten Mitteleuropas. Mit Sonderteil: Exotische und giftige Spinnen der Welt. 2. Auflage, Kosmos Naturführer, Franck Kosmos, 2002, Seite 54 ISBN 3-440-09210-0
- Heiko Bellmann: Kosmos Atlas Spinnentiere Europas. 3. Auflage, Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2006, S. 200–239 ISBN 3-440-10746-9
- K. Gauckler: Goldäugige Springspinne und Zinnoberrote Röhrenspinne in Nordbayern. Mitteilungen der naturhistorischen Gesellschaft Nürnberg, 6, S. 51–55, 1971

## References

1. Murphy & Murphy 2000: 279

1. [Araneae - Spiders of Europe](https://araneae.nmbe.ch/data/335/Philaeus_chrysops)

1. [Fauna europaea](https://fauna-eu.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/bef0d033-8e31-44b9-84e1-2a5a7bfcf746)

1. [*Philaeus chrysops* at Plante Carnivore](http://plante.carnivore.free.fr/Philaeus%20chrysops.php) (in French)

## External links

- [Meditflora](https://www.meditflora.com/fauna/medit_fauna/invertebrati/ragni/philaeus_chrysops.htm) (in Italian)
- Images at digilander.libero.it: [male with fly](https://digilander.libero.it/ilragnonero/Philaeus_chrysops/mosca2.jpg) - [male front view](https://digilander.libero.it/ilragnonero/Philaeus_chrysops/zampa-alta.jpg) - [male](https://digilander.libero.it/ilragnonero/Philaeus_chrysops/tre4-6.jpg) - [male top view](https://digilander.libero.it/ilragnonero/Philaeus_chrysops/xforum3.jpg)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Philaeus chrysops](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philaeus_chrysops) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philaeus_chrysops?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.