The name comes from the Latin aurantium for orange. A quick look at Bugguide images shows a wide range of colors from orange to black with iridescent green on the abdomen in the right light. Mine was photographed hanging on the underside of a pawpaw leaf. Unlike most specimens, this one seemed quite content to hold on for photographs before leaping a foot away into the morning shade. I got a quick confirmation from Bugguide
Photographs in Amazing Arachnids by Jillian Cowles show the females like ours are lighter in color while the mature males are black with the same pattern of white spots on the dorsal abdomen. This one is sub-adult both in size and coloration. You can compare it to the larger adult female above that was jumping around me a few days later.
Two large eyes in the center facing forward. |
Wolf and Jumping Spider eyes |
David Edwin Hill |
Sadly, most of the information on P.
aurantius and its kin are about eliminating them. These little jumpers don't want to be around us, just like we don't want them in our houses. They just want to be left alone.
Marylandbiodiversity.com has a beautiful set of pictures of the spectrum of colors.
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Update 11-3-2019
Here is a fascinating article in The Atlantic on the telescopic eyes of jumping spiders and why they will chase a laser pointer.