Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Family: Salticidae
Subfamily: Amycinae
Tribe: Astiini
Genus: Helpis
Species: H. minitabunda
Binomial name: Helpis minitabunda
Common name: Bronze hopper, Bronze Aussie Jumper
Helpis minitabunda is another species of jumping spider. It is from eastern Australia and was first seen in New Zealand in 1972 but is now common on the North Island. It has a slender body which is light brown in colour. They hunt by jumping on small insects. They need very good eyesight to do this hence the very large front pair of eyes and their head moves. The males (10mm) are larger than the females (8 mm). This is quite an exceptional case in the world of spiders which usually males are smaller. The males front legs are far longer than the females and have a white ring on them. The male of this species will protect the nest while the female is inside the nest.
An adult male.
A female Helpis minitabunda
Head of the female. A female's pedipalps are not swollen like those of males. Males have specialised, swollen pedipalps that are used to transfer sperm to the female during mating.
Young male
A young male spider
An adult.
A male with a white ring on its foreleg at the lower end of its tibia and the tips of his pedipalps are swollen.
A male with a white ring on its foreleg at the lower end of its tibia
Small male with swollen pedipalps.
A female
The underside of Helpis minitabunda.
A common fruit fly being eaten.
Just starting to weave a retreat,
A male is inside the retreat, a female has just exited.
The retreat and nest of a Helpis minitabunda. It contains its spiderlings.
Two of the spiderlings inside the nest. They have not yet developed the adult colours. 4 mm body length.
The is a video courtesy of Richard Jones of male dominance and territorial display in which males size each other up to compare fang size and leg span is a fascinating duel that offers extra appreciation to this gorgeous little jumping spider. The male dominance and territorial display in which the males size each other up to compare fang size and leg span is a fascinating duel that offers extra appreciation to this gorgeous little jumping spider.
Thanks to Wikipedia for text and information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
