Tutelina elegans jumping spider with crazy double mohawk!
August 18, 2010
Ed. Note: No location provided
Location: Oklahoma we believe
Hi,
I thought you might like these pictures of what I believe to be a male Tutelina elegans. There has been an abundance of jumping spiders in Oklahoma this year, but this is the only male T. elegans I’ve found. This little guy had one of the craziest hairdos I’ve ever seen on a jumper! In addition to his double mohawks he had tufts of black hair on his front legs. He was very cooperative when I photographed him and I wish I’d been able to get a better shot of his awesome hairdo. I also have some pictures of what I’m pretty sure are female T. elegans if you want to see them. Thanks for the great site,
Josh Kouri
Hi Josh,
Thanks for sending us your Jumping Spider photos and we agree that this does appear to be a photo of a male Tutelina elegans based on images posted to BugGuide and this description: “Tutelina similis is very similar, but adult male elegans has a black tuft of hairs on tibia I, and adult female elegans has a white basal band around the abdomen.(1) In my experience with female elegans, identifiable marks begin to show at the antepenultimate instar. Earlier instars of either species, which appear gray in color, probably cannot be identified beyond genus.“ The black tufts of hair on the tibia are quite visible in one of your photos in particular. We suspect that this sighting was in Oklahoma like your numerous previous submissions, though since you did not use our standard form for this submission, there is no location indicated.
Hi Daniel,
Sorry about that; the jumping spider was found in central Oklahoma. Thanks for the conformation on the I.D.
Josh