Jumping spiders (SALTICIDAE) have good vision for hunting and navigating. They typically have eight eyes arranged in three or four rows. The front, and most distinctive row is enlarged and forward facing. Their eyesight is much better than that of other spiders and most, if not all, insects. Some remain still and scan the image repeatedly before following the strategy that offers itself.
Adoxotoma nigroolivacea Simon 1909? Black Olive Adoxotoma
A tiny Salticid, mature females to about 3mm, with a tiger-stripe pattern of black wavy lines on the buff-yellow-brown mostly translucent body, especially on the upper surface of the abdomen. Legs mostly translucent with some black bands. Typically large anterior median eyes fringed with white hairs. The inside of the tibia on leg I has a row of spines. One of the species named by Simon in 1909... 
Arasia sp. A Bark-dwelling Jumping Spider
This medium sized jumper, body length about 9mm, makes a shallow whitish cocoon about 25cmm for her eggs under the bark of Grey Gums and other similar eucalypts. She occupies this nest with her eggs.
Astia hariola Koch 1879 Golden-tailed Jumper
A common species recognised by the pattern of yellow bands across the upper surface of the black abdomen, found in Queensland and NSW. Body length about 4mm for the male, 5mm for the female. Often found under loose bark, especially in eucalypt forests, in a flattish, shallow, oval silken retreat which ultimately contains eggs. The markings are thicker and brighter on the male than on the female.
Astieae > Adoxotoma nodosa (L. Koch, 1879) Brown Astia
Previously Astia nodosa, a small to medium jumping spider on bark in Queensland and New South Wales in dry eucalypt scrub to rainforest...
Astilodes mariae Zabka, 2009
A new genus from Queensland recently described by Dr Marek Zabka. This specimen about 10mm long with a very skinny abdomen and long front legs. This...
Bavia cf aericeps Simon, 1877 Giant Tropical Bavia
Bavia aericeps is the type species for Bavia. In its distribution range, from Malaysia to Australia and on several Pacific Islands, it is the most...
'Breda' jovialis (Koch L., 1879)
Body length about 8mm, sometimes two white spots on the upper surface of the abdomen. Forward of these a white line across the abdomen with a...
Clynotis albobarbatus?
The males of most spider species are elusive and short lived (Davies). Thus only scant information exists. This male may be a Breda jovialis or a Clynotis albobarbatus, these being two closely...
Coccorchestes ferreus Griswold, 1984 Beetle Mimicking Salticid
This jumping spider is one of the most unusual of the jumping spiders found in Australia, having over time successfully adapted by mimicking a...
Copocrossa sp
Photographed by Brodie Foster on the Sunshine Coast hinterland this is possibly a new species of Copocrossa so far only recorded for NQ.
Cosmophasis micans (L. Koch 1880) Metallic Green Jumping Spider
A spectacularly-coloured jumping spider with iridescent, metallic-looking, turqoise-green coloured bands across the carapace, a white stripe along...
Cosmophasis sp Brisbane Cosmophasis cf micans
A medium sized jumping spider body length about 6.5mm collected in a north-side Brisbane suburb.
Cosmophasis species?
A spider found in suburban Brisbane. Body length about 6mm for this male. Some iridescence. Distinct white markings on the face and abdomen, and...
Cytaea severa (Thorell 1881) Wandering Jumping Spider
A small to medium-sized jumping spider, females to 7mm, males darker and smaller, to 6mm. Usually found wandering on foliage where they are well...
Damoetas nitidus (L. Koch, 1880)? Shining Damoetas
Damoetas is one of the more obscure genera of spiders in the ant mimicking group within the Salticidae (the Myrmarachninae) containing also Ligonipes, Rhombonotus, and Myrmarachne itself. Damoetas has an abdomen longer than the cephalothorax, relatively short legs...
Euryattus bleekeri (Doleschall, 1859) Bleeker's Jumping Spider
A common jumping spider, variable in size, colour and pattern, with a range from Northern NSW to Sri Lanka, probably also elsewere in eastern Australia. Females can be up to 10mm in body length, the males smaller, up to about 6mm. They are abdundant on shrubs in coastal areas, especially near the sea, in thick scrub behind dunes. They prefer relatively thick but dry foliage, such as dense shrubs...
Hasarius adansoni (Audouin) 1827 Adanson's Jumping Spider
Hasarius adansoni is a cosmopolitan species (found throughout the world) whose appearance varies depending on the location. The females have a body length up to 4.5 mm, males: 4 mm. They are...
Helpis minitabunda (L. Koch 1880) Threatening Jumping Spider
Helpis minitabunda is found on foliage in most habitats in Eastern Australia, also in New Guinea and New Zealand. Often abundant in gardens. Like most jumping spiders it is very agile and fast, seemingly confident in its ability to jump to safety. When approached it will either rear up and...
Holoplatys planissima (L. Koch, 1879) Grooved Jumping Spider
A medium-sized jumping spider usually on or under eucalypt bark in most parts of continental Australia from Western Australia to Queensland. Often...
Holoplatys sp Queensland Ultraflat
A small, extremely flat spider body length 2-3mm, usually on or under bark. This species was collected in the Brisbane 2004 Terrestrial Invertebrate Status Review for Brisbane. It was nicknamed Q_ultraflat1 by Robert Raven.
Hypoblemum albovittatum (Keyserling, 1882) Fearless Jumping Spider
Common in eastern Australia and most of New Zealand south to Christchurch, often seen around built up areas on walls and fences during the warmer part of the day. It is a very mobile spider quick to jump, not usually bothering with a safety line. The male is dark brown to silvery black with a...
Hypoblemum sp Cedar Creek (Davies & Zabka, 1989) Cedar Creek Hypoblemum
Common in coastal Queensland, often seen around built up areas on walls and fences during the warmer part of the day. commin in dry rainmforest to dry eucalypt forest. Very mobile, quick to jump, not usually bothering with a safety line. The male has a dense flattened mat of forward-facing golden...
Jotus auripes L. Koch, 1881 Blue-eyed Jumping Spider
A small, very common jumping spider on the ground and in leaf litter in heavily vegetated areas in eastern Australia, females to 5 mm, males about...
Judalana lutea Rix, 1999 Judy and Alan's Yellow Ant-mimicking Jumping Spider
This species, described by Michael Rix in 1999, is a small, slender ant-mimicking salticid in Southeast Queensland with a bright, yellow-orange abdomen, closely related to the other four genera of Australian plurident ant mimics: Ligonipes, Rhombonotus, Damoetas and Myrmarachne. It is found mainly on Acacia bushes and occasionally on eucalypts, where leaves have been...
Ligonipes sp Brisbane Ligonipes
Ant ant mimic with a golden section of the abdomen to mimic several Brisbane ants. Tufts of thick hairs on the tibia of leg I, female with leg like pedipalps, legs III and IV with black femurs, otherwise clear.
Lycidas karschi Zabka 1987 Karsch's Lycidas
A medium sized jumping spider abundant on foliage and in leaf litter in dry rainforest, especially along creeks. Similar to Lycidas scutulatus...
Lycidas scutulatus (L. Koch, 1881) Cross-ruled Lycidas
A common jumping spider on the bark of trees, leaves and other surfaces, body length of females to 7mm, males to about 5mm, found in Queensland and NSW and likely elsewhere across Australia in dry eucalypt scrub to rainforest. Body and legs yellow to orange, sometimes brown, recognisable by the...
Menemerus bivittatus
This is a cosmopolitan spider associated with humans in the warmer parts of the world, found in houses and on walls in cities. It has spread throughout the world with people. The body length of the female up to 10 mm, the male slightly smaller, up to 9 mm. Both the female and the male have white...
Mopsus mormon Karsch, 1878 Northern Green Jumping Spider
The genus Mopsus has only one spider - Mopsus mormon, previously Mopsus penicillatus. It is the largest Australian jumping spider, found throughout the warmer regions in the northern part of Australia down as far as Coffs Harbour. Green Jumping spiders are large, beautiful,...
Myrmarachne sp Ant Mimic
The golden-tailed ant mimics in Myrmarachne mimic various species of Polyrhachis ants, of which there are many in South East Queensland, including some not yet described. These spiders are good specific mimics, associating with just one species of ant. They do not prey on the ants. The mimicry is used for protection, ants being not as much sought after as spiders by predators. As...
Myrmarachne sp Ant Mimic
This golden-tailed ant mimic appears to be mimicking Polyrhachis rufifemur, the Red-thighed Polyrhachis, common in South East Queensland. The mimicry is shown in the photo by Brodie Foster of the spider (top) and the ant (below). This spider is widespread in southeast Queensland, at least from Numinbah Valley to the Sunshine Coast.
NOT Plexippus paykulli (Audouin, 1825) Pantropical Jumping Spider
Collected in leaf litter in a weedy surburban spare lot in Wynnum, Brisbane Monday, 18 May 2009. This small (body length about 4mm) jumping spider is...
Ocrisiona leucocomis (L. Koch, 1879) White-striped Ocrisiona
This widespread Salticid is a bark-dweller with a flat body, mostly black with a thin longitudinal line on the carapace and diffuse white markings in...
Opisthoncus mordax Koch 1880 Biting Jumping Spider
Attractive, large, and with an outgoing personality, the male Biting Jumping Spider is usually found hunting on shrubs in daylight. Shiny black to dark brown, the male is readily identifiable by its body type and colouration. It has a white to cream patch on the upper surface of rear, sloping part of the cephalothorax behind the posterior lateral eyes and a white to cream stripe running...
Opisthoncus mordax moulting from sub-adult O. parcedentatus type
These observations made by Brodie Foster in the Moolala Valley establish that the subadult form of the male Opisthoncus mordax is very similar in appearance to the female of a common garden jumping spider, Opisthoncus mordax. As the female for O. mordax has never been described, it seems likely that the male and female have been wrongly described as separate species instead...
Opisthoncus parcedentatus L Koch 1880 Garden Jumping Spider)
Widespread and common, body length of females possibly to 15 mm, males to 12 mm, both usually smaller. Known from Queensland and NSW but probably will be found Australia wide including islands. The male may be currently known as Opisthoncus mordax. They are quite variable in appearance and...
Opisthoncus polyphemus (L. Koch, 1867) Cyclops Jumping Spider
A widespread and common medium-sized jumping spider, female body length 8-9 mm, the male 6-7 mm, in eucyalypt forest, heathland and woodland to dry rainforest in New Guinea, Queensland and New South Wales. The body is pale yellow-orange with white markings except for very obvious black circles...
Opisthoncus sp (Big-jawed Jumping Spider)
A dramatic looking Jumping Spider with big jaws and fangs, similar to Opisthoncus mordax. Body length 9mm. This undescribed species is very likely to...
Opisthoncus sp (Two-spotted Jumping Spider)
This spider was 4mm body length in a retreat in a folded leaf of Cissus antarctica (Native Grape) beside the creek. Like many small jumping spiders of this type it has black tips on the ends of the tarsi or "feet". The cephalothorax has a "helmet" of dark in the region of the eye quadrangles. The...
Opisthoncus sp cf O. parcedentatus
This Jumping spider female, body length about 8mm, has different teeth and epigynum to O. parcedentatus to which it must be closely related.
Paraphilaeus daemeli (Keyserling, 1883) Daemel's Trite
A small to medium-sized jumping spider, body length 4-6mm. Usually found wandering on foliage in dry eucalypt scrub to rainforest margins, even grasslands. Widespread throughout coastal Queensland and NSW, possibly elsewhere. Well camouflaged. The body is a cryptic pattern of buff-cream to brown...
Prostheclina pallida Keyserling, 1882 Orange-faced Jumping Spider
Prostheclina spiders are found in eastern Australian states, including Tasmania, on foliage in tropical and temperate rainforests or wet eucalypt forest, frequently on ferns, sometimes in plantings. The orange face and tufted hairs on the metatarsi of Leg I in the males make some of the species easy to recognise. Males of Prostheclina pallida to about 7mm females possibly 8mm. The males are distinctively featured and coloured.
Rhombonotus gracilis L. Koch, 1879 Graceful Rhombonotus
This small ant-eating ant-mimic is closely related to Ligonipes spiders. The female can grow to 4mm, the male around 2.5mm. It is mostly found in a rolled leaf retreat in most lush habitats in Queenslands, including gardens. Its range probably extends further. The front legs mimick an ant's...
Sandalodes bipenicillatus (Keyserling, 1882) Two-tufted Sandalodes
This attractive jumping spider is of medium size, female: 10 mm, male: 9 mm. Found on bark and green leaves. The male has two brushes of dark hairs that form forward-pointing horns on the sides of the spider's head, thus the species name. It was named in 1882 by Keyserling as Mopsus which it...
Sandalodes scopifer (Karsch, 1878) White-spotted Sandalodes
A rather large jumping spider, dark brown to black, throughout Australia and also known from New Guinea, often found on wattles and gums. Body...
Servaea vestita (Koch, 1879) Hairy, or Well-dressed Jumping Spider
A common small jumping spider in coastal australia including Tasmania, very variable in appearance but nearly always having an inverted Y shape on the upper surface of the abdomen about two thirds of the way towards the spinnerets. Males and females are about the same size, body length to about...
Servaea villosa (Keyserling, 1881) Shaggy-velvet Servaea
A medium-sized jumping spider in coastal Queensland, probably elsewhere. Common in winter in South East Queensland as mature breeding males and females. Very similar to Servaea vestita. Females are larger, body length to 7mm, males to 5mm. They have a great variety of patterns and colours,...
Simaetha species S. thoracica and S. tenuidens (Brown Jumpers)
These two species are common jumping spiders in suburban gardens and parks. S. thoracica probably the more common of the two, female body length about 6 mm, male about 5 mm. S. tenuidens may be a little larger and longer (about 7-8mm both males and females according to Hawkeswood) and have less...
Simaetha tenuidens Brown Jumper
Both males and females, body length 7-9mm. The bigger of the common brown jumpers.
Simaethula sp Elegant White-moustached Simaethula
Simaethula is a genus of small jumping spiders very closely related to Simaetha. They are smaller than Simaetha and do not have the banded rear of the abdomen. Females are generally 2-4mm and males 1-3mm. The upper surfaces of the cephalothorax and abdomen are covered with scales, usually golden, though they can appear differently coloured in differently coloured lights. The...
Simaethula sp. Small Golden Simaethula
Simaethula is a genus closely related to Simaetha and endemic (only found in) Australia. It is smaller than Simaetha. These juveniles (about 1.5mm body length) were shaken out of a Lilly Pilly. There were several. They could be S. aurata (gilded golden) or S. auronitens (golen and polished,...
Sondra nepenthicola Wanless 1988 A Jumping Spider
The male generally brown, not very hairy especially the cephalothorax which was mostly hairless. Body length to 4mm. Cephalothorax quite high with a...
Tara? cf anomala (Keyserling, 1882) Ergane? cf cognata L Koch, 1881 Scorpion Mimic
Body length males 3.2mm interesting for a number of features: small size, habitus and behaviour very scorpion like, extreme flatness, bulging femurs leg I, extremely strong-looking "crone-finger" fangs, with bumps and scoops, rather like Ergane cognata, or Tara anomala two slender...
Trite or Gangus Species
This small Jumping Spider resembles the Davies Zabka drawing of Trite longula, previously observed from Cape York in the far north of Queensland. It may be more widespread, or this may be an undescribed species. The Trite genus has been considered synonymous with the Gangus genus. Further work on...
Unidentified Jumping Spider 6649
A beautiful spider with a highly arched cephalothorax and huge eyes. The abdomen is slender like that of Mopsus and the legs are transparent. The...
Unidentified Jumping Spider cf Jotus
A spider from Mount Glorious, male, with white socks, a very broad cephalothorax narrowing towards the rear, leg IV quite long, stripey, a short, thin but obvious yellow stripe at the trailing edge of the cephalothorax running lengthways, a Jotus type male palp.
Unidentified Jumping Spider GJA5442
Possibilities for this species that have been suggested include Palpelius beccarii (Thorell, 1881) with a range from the Mollucas to Australia; Tauala lepidus Wanless, 1988, Queensland; and Huntiglennia williamsi Zabka & Gray, 2004, New South Wales. Brodie Foster also noticed...
Zenodorus orbiculatus (Keyserling, 1881) Round Ant Eater
Zenodorus orbiculatus (previously Pystira orbiculata) is one of the more recognizeable small brown-black Salticids due to the characteristic white fringing on the flattened circular abdomen of the female. The adult females (body length up to 9mm) have browner legs, the adult males...