INDEX to Spiders of Sungai Tawau

|  Menemerus bivittatus MALE  |  Menemerus bivittatus FEMALE  |


Menemerus fulvus is often confused with 3 other wall jumper species because their body shape structure and grey colour patent. Male and female among these 4 species are inter-misidentified as each other's.

Here are the 4 species of grey wall jumpers :

Subfamily Heliophaninae
Menemerus bivittatus
Subfamily Heliophaninae
Menemerus fulvus
Subfamily Plexippinae
Plexippus paykulli
Subfamily Plexippinae
Plexippus petersi
Plexippus paykulli (Plexippus setipes?) 蠅虎之一

 

♂ 7mm
♀11mm
 

Menemerus bivittatus

This species is dorsoventrally flattened. The males are 8 to 9 mm in length, while females are 8 to10 mm.

The carapace is mostly black with a white stripe on each side and one down the middle, the lateral stripes joining in front across the clypeus.

Male has a distinctive white inverted "V" mark occurs on the chellicerae. The female is gray dorsally, the carapace edged with a thin white stripe laterally and an orange clypeus; the semifoliar gray abdomen is edged with broad black stripes on each side which meet posteriorly.

 Immatures closely resemble the adult females, although sub-adult males may be distinguished by their swollen palpi.

 All free-living stages feed primarily on small Diptera which alight on buildings, although they are capable of capturing large crane flies twice their length, and larger, heavier muscoid flies.

Females make a white eggsac in a crevice, somewhat flattened and about 1.5 cm in diameter, inside which they stay and guard 25 to 40 eggs which are contained inside a lenticular silken case about 6 mm in diameter.

Spiderlings disperse about three weeks after the eggs are laid.


 

Family: Salticidae
Subfamily : Heliophaninae
Genus: Menemerus
Species: Menemerus bivittatus

♀11mm

24-10-2014 SEMARAK

SEMARAK 24-10-2014 FRI 9:28AM (0.5 Km from the bank of Sungai Tawau River)

Menemerus bivittatus


The eight eyes of a female Menemerus bivittatus.

Jumping spiders can see in color (DeVoe 1975), and the large front eyes focus on objects (Land 1972).


This female Menemerus bivittatus is 11mm in body length.

24-10-2014 FRI 7:09AM

This female was found at Taman Semarak shops.  It was early morning before all the shops open for business.

Taman Semarak is just 0.5 km from the bank of Sungai Tawau River. Between the river bank and the shops is the Jalan Kuhara Road that joint to Kalabakan Road to Maliau Basin Forest Reserve.


 

Family: Salticidae
Subfamily : Heliophaninae
Genus: Menemerus
Species: Menemerus bivittatus

♂ 7mm

PRAWN FARM 14-10-2014 PRAWN TUE 2:49PM


THE GRAY WALL JUMPER

Gray wall because this species often found on grey wall with plenty of sunshine.

Menemerus bivittatus is commonly known as the grey wall jumper. It is a pantropical species and is usually found on the walls of buildings or on tree trunks where it stalks its prey.

Here in this image on the left, this male Menemerus bivittatus is  found in a grey wall where it successfully captured a pray.

Looking on at the left is the lady cleaner of the toilet with the grey wall.